Students show up to support Ukraine at U of S

A rally in support of Ukraine brought several dozen people out in hats, scarves, shawls and blue-and-yellow flags to brave the chilly weather at the University of Saskatchewan on Thursday.

Carrying posters painted the colours of the Ukrainian flag — with equally colourful sentiments about Russian President Vladimir Putin written on them — Kathryn Stephaniuk attended the rally with her mother and sister, having taken the afternoon off work.

Stephaniuk said her grandparents on both her mom’s and dad’s sides of the family come from a Ukrainian background.

“I was lucky enough. I studied with Professor Nadya (Foty-Oneschuk) a couple years ago and was able to go to Ukraine for the spring session abroad, so we’re just here to show our support for Ukraine and for our roots as well,” Stephaniuk said.

The chance to travel to Ukraine was “amazing,” she recalled, adding her trip was the last time the opportunity has been offered since COVID-19 restricted travel over the past two years.

“I’m really glad I was able to do it at the time,” she said. “There’s a lot of great memories. I have a lot of people there that I reached out to. The area that they’re in, they’re OK; they’re starting to move out but it’s pretty scary.”

The Lesya Ukrainka statue at the U of S in front of Murray Library. Lesya Ukrainka was a Ukrainian poet and writer. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

Stephaniuk said it’s great to see the support for the Ukrainian community in Saskatoon at rallies like the one held Thursday. One she attended Sunday also had a significant turnout.

“I think the people that are from Ukraine originally, for them to know that they’re not alone at this time (is important),” Stephaniuk said.

Friends Ana Nesterova, Val Drozdovska, Victoria Cheremshymska and Diana Vashkova attended the rally together. They are all Ukrainian and speak the language. They grew up heavily involved in their culture.

“It’s extremely important. It’s our culture; it’s our name,” Drozdovska said.

“All of us go home and we go into our home with our cross — religion is big (in our) culture. We have icons on our walls, we have our embroidered shirts, we talk to our Ukrainian parents, we make our Ukrainian dishes. It’s who we are when we’re home from our 9-to-5 or school.”

“Especially right now, it’s nice to know that there’s other people that relate to what’s happening and what we’re feeling and it’s like a whole community that supports Ukraine together,” Nesterova added. “It’s just nice to know that support is there.”

Vashkova agreed, adding that sharing a culture and traditions with others while a conflict like this rages is a special bond.

“It’s like our world kind of stopped for a moment,” Drozdovska said of learning Russia had attacked Ukraine last week.

Nesterova said the war in Ukraine is affecting all their lives immensely, even though they are not in Ukraine themselves. She didn’t believe the war would truly happen.

“It’s the reality now and it’s really unfortunate and all we want is for it to stop,” she said.

Vashkova’s family is in bomb shelters in Ukraine right now, trying to stay safe.

“They’re trying to survive. Their main thing is keeping optimistic and they have a sense of community,” she said, adding they believe they will make it through.

“Putin is in a bunker. Our people are in bomb shelters,” Cheremshymska added.

Nadya Foty-Oneschuk, a faculty member at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan attended the rally in support of Ukraine on March 3, 2022. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

Foty-Oneschuk, a faculty member at St. Thomas More College, said she has seen the Ukrainian community come together to offer aid in an amazing way over the past week and a half.

Organizations like Stream of Hopes in Saskatoon are gathering supplies to send a shipment to Ukraine, and individuals are working on fundraising efforts for the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and the Canadian Red Cross.

But just as amazing is the general Canadian response, the term faculty member said. Referencing another rally she attended on Sunday, Foty-Oneschuk said one of the most wonderful things was the many non-Ukrainian people who attended.

Tearing up, Foty-Oneschuk said an elderly gentleman came up to her at the rally she attended Sunday.

“He asked me if I was … from Ukraine and I said, ‘No,’ ” she recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, I’m not Ukrainian at all, like, not at all, but I just couldn’t sit at home and do nothing anymore. And frankly, I think all of us are Ukrainians right now.’ ”

Foty-Oneschuk was touched by the man’s sentiment and she thanked him. They chatted and she later apologized, as the flag she had wrapped around her kept hitting the man because of the wind.

” ‘The best thing to be wrapped up in right now is a Ukrainian flag, so please don’t apologize,’ ” Foty-Oneschuk said the man responded.

“I think that speaks volumes about not just Ukrainians but Canadians coming together to show support.”