'Trying to stay strong': Ukrainians in Calgary reflect on 3 years of war
'People want to end this war as soon as possible,' says Ukrainian Calgarian
Three years ago today, Russia launched its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, pushing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to leave their homes and leave behind family members and the lives they once knew to seek refuge in another country.
Many Ukrainians arrived in Canada, including Calgary. Those now living in Alberta's largest city say acknowledging three years of war brings mixed emotions.
"It's difficult. It's hurting so much. I feel not OK, as all Ukrainians this morning," Snizhana Bora, director of the Ukraine refugee theater group Artis, told CBC Radio's the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.
"I'm trying to stay strong," she said, adding the war is still very real and it's why she's sharing information in order to cope with the sombre anniversary.
Bora witnessed the start of the Russian invasion, as soldiers ravaged her town near the border. Her first encounter with the war was waking up to the sound of bombs.
She recalls explaining to her now 4½-year-old daughter why they had to go to her grandma's house, located farther away from the Russian border in order to stay alive.
WATCH | Ukrainian woman living in Calgary discusses three years of war:
She and her young daughter arrived in Calgary on May 18, 2023, while Bora's brother and father stayed behind to become soldiers with the Ukrainian army.
"I feel safe here … what all humans should feel," she said.
For now, she says, she's found her home in Calgary. But while she's grateful to be in Canada, she also says she's looking forward to going back to Ukraine to continue her life.
"House is no matter, we can build it again," she said, adding that what really matters is the people who have died — and those who continue to die every day — back in Ukraine.
She was a professional actress and director back home. The theatre she worked at, along with her own home, were destroyed by rockets.
"Russia took everything from me," she said. "But still I'm alive, and still I can do what I love."
Bora says she's trying to remain connected to her community through doing what she loves. While she's in Calgary, Bora continues to pursue her passion for theatre and being involved in the community through her work with Artis.
"It's keeping me warm and giving me power to stay strong. I'm not just living, I'm doing something for my country," she said.
"It's very important to stay and just do my art."
After every show, Bora says, the theatre group holds an auction to raise money to send back home that will be used to support the army or donated to women and children who are still living through the war.
Trump presidency stokes anxiety among Ukrainians
Another Ukrainian living in Calgary says coping with the three-year mark isn't much different than years prior, because he's still just as dedicated to supporting Ukraine as much as he can.
Denys Ruban is one of the administrators of a Facebook group with nearly 24,000 members called Ukrainians of Calgary. He says it was started in 2022 to help Ukrainian newcomers fleeing the invasion get settled by connecting them with resources, as well as organizing fundraising events to support the country's ongoing war efforts.
"I can't say there's a big difference between the second anniversary," he said.
The one difference between now and last year, however, is the change in who's leading the White House.
Ruban believes Donald Trump's presidency is forcing many Ukrainians in Calgary to feel insecure about the future of Ukraine's independence.
"Based on those conversations between the U.S. administration and government of Ukraine right now, it's concerning that Ukrainians are pushed into a situation that they need to surrender their resources several generations had," said Ruban.
Trump wants Ukraine to deliver what he called "equalization" for the foreign aid the U.S. has provided to the fight so far. The U.S. president says he wants that payment in the form of access to Ukraine's rare-earth minerals, worth $500 billion US, which are vital to the production of batteries and other modern technologies.
"There's still hope that the things that we can see on the surface are different from what is actually happening."
When it comes to today's political climate, Ruban says the general feeling among the people he's speaking with is disappointment.
That disappointment stems from how the relationship between the U.S. and Russia could shape an outcome to the war that would be difficult to swallow for many Ukrainians.
"People need to understand that even if the peace treaty is signed right now … this will not stop the future aggression of Russia," said Ruban.
"That's been like that for decades and 100 years of history of Ukraine and Russian relationship. And so the only way is to have Ukrainian army strong and backed up by Western democracies."
Though Ruban arrived in Canada over 10 years ago, coming from Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, each year of war that passes still feels painful to watch.
The online and in-person community he's helped build in Calgary is expressing a sense of "war fatigue," he says, and everyone desires to see an end to Russia's invasion, hopefully before a fourth-year anniversary.
"People want to end this war as soon as possible," he said. "But as I understand, most people don't want to do that by just surrendering our cities or territory to Russia."
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