montrealers march for ukraine: 'we would like to show the world that we must stop the war'
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tanya ryabets pushed her empty stroller silently, one of more than 100 mothers who filled ste-catherine st. w. with empty strollers on saturday to lead a march of hundreds demanding an end to russia’s war on ukraine.
the empty strollers were meant as a sad symbol of the children who have been killed since russian president vladimir putin’s forces entered ukraine on feb. 24.
“we would like to show the world that we must stop the war,” ryabets, who emigrated to quebec from ukraine in 2011, said as the procession left the corner of guy st. and slowly moved east, eventually ending at place du canada.
ryabets, a black ribbon fastened to the lapel of her grey coat, said she has been showing images of the devastation from russia’s invasion to her two young daughters.
“i explain the war to them,” she said, “that russia invaded ukraine and that it would like to kill everybody, that it would like to commit genocide in ukraine.”
at mid-week last week, ukraine claimed 121 children have been killed in the russian invasion.
the united nations human rights office, ohchr, says 78 children have been killed, and 105 have been injured since the war began.
ukraine supporters marched through the streets of montreal on saturday.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
in all, the un says at least 1,035 ukrainian civilians have been killed and 1,605 injured since russian armed forces launched their attacks. however, the toll is likely much higher, it adds, because the full picture is not yet known in areas of intense fighting, such as mariupol and volnovakha.
the march in downtown montreal was organized by the ukrainian canadian congress (ucc) in response to ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy’s call for people around the world to “support ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.”
alana mota, a second-generation canadian who speaks ukrainian and has visited the country of her grandparents’ birth, said she joined the march because “we’re heartbroken and we’re with our brothers and sisters in ukraine who are suffering right now.”
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born in 1993, shortly after ukraine voted for independence following the dissolution of the soviet union, mota said: “i’ve only ever known a free ukraine. so this is new and unimaginable. i shouldn’t have to be here, but here i am.”
she attended the march with her aunt, chris mota, whose parents left western ukraine after the second world war.
“it’s unfathomable what is going on,” she said. “we never thought we ever be living through this horror. there aren’t words for it.”
“ukraine has suffered for so many years that even here, those of us who were born here, it’s been entrenched in us,” she said.
as she spoke, the marchers chanted “slava ukraini,” meaning “glory to ukraine,” followed by the response: “heroyam slava,” which means “glory to her heroes.”
“we were taught to work toward freedom in ukraine,” chris mota said of ukrainian canadians. “it has literally been engrained in us. so when you wonder why so many young people are here, we were raised thinking and hoping and praying for ukraine.”
ukraine supporters marched through the streets of montreal on saturday march 26, 2022.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
roman solonysznyj and his brother, peter, and their wives, said they attended the march “to show our support for the country, for our ancestors and all the people fighting,” peter solonysznyj said, finishing the sentence for his brother.
the brothers were born in montreal to parents who emigrated from western ukraine at the end of the second world war. as children growing up in montreal, the brothers attended ukrainian language school in the evenings and attended a ukrainian church, they said.
“once their quick plan didn’t work, now they’re just levelling ukrainian cities,” peter solonysznyj said of the russian forces. “it’s mass slaughter.”
unicef has said the war has caused the fastest-growing refugee crisis since the second world war. in the month since russia invaded ukraine, 4.3 million children — more than half of the country’s estimated 7.5 million child population — have been displaced, the un children’s fund (unicef) said on thursday. the number includes more than 1.8 million ukrainian children who have crossed into neighbouring countries as refugees and 2.5 million who are now internally displaced.
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overall, the un reports almost one-quarter of the population of ukraine — or more than 10 million people — have been forced from their homes. and the un refugee agency estimates another 13 million people are “stranded in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, as well as lack of resources or information on where to find safety and accommodation.”
ukraine supporters marched through the streets of montreal on saturday march 26, 2022.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
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