Candlelight vigil to be held in Whitehorse to mark 3 years of war in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Canadian Association of the Yukon is holding a candlelight vigil in Whitehorse on Tuesday to mark three years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"It's coming together, standing strong and being around each other and knowing that with unity there is strength," said Lesia Hnatiw, a board member with the association. 

The vigil will take place outside of Whitehorse City Hall at 6 p.m. followed by a presentation from the association at the Gold Rush Inn at 7 p.m. Members of the association will be sharing their experiences from their most recent humanitarian mission to Ukraine in November 2024.

Hnatiw says the vigil will be both an act of solidarity with Ukraine and a demonstration to call on political leaders to do more to support Ukraine. The association decided to hold the vigil on Tuesday – the day after the three-year anniversary of the war – so it would not conflict with the city council meeting on Monday. The association hopes to see the mayor and councillors at the vigil, supporting Ukraine.

"I encourage people to bring Ukrainian flags, to make signs," Hnatiw said. "These are images that people in Ukraine will see."

Hnatiw says the last few weeks have brought a lot of uncertainty, after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to blame Russia for the war, splitting from European allies. 

"He's gone as far as to pressure Ukraine to retract statements in the U.N. with regards to actually identifying Russia as the aggressor and starter of this genocidal war in Ukraine," Hnatiw said. "It's pretty clear that the United States is trying to pressure Ukraine into an agreement, a peace agreement that is not really about peace." 

Hnatiw hopes Trump's recent rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state will help Canadians relate to what has been happening in Ukraine.

"It will help some people who don't quite understand that feeling of having something threatened like your statehood, your nation being threatened by someone else. And now multiply that by a gazillion, what's happening in Ukraine." 

Spreading message of hope 

Anastasiya Matlashevska is the vice president of Ukrainian Canadian Association of the Yukon. She was born in Ukraine, but has been living in the Yukon for over a decade. She says she never imagined a war like this happening in her lifetime.

"Three years ago when the war started, nobody could believe it. Back then, nobody in their scariest thoughts would think that this war would last so long," Matlashevska said. "It's still important to remind the world that it's still happening. People still live their lives and they go to work and kids go to school. People adapt to a cruel reality there."

Tuesday evening's vigil will serve as a reminder that the war is ongoing, but will also offer a message of hope.

Kateryna Osypova will be speaking at the vigil. She left her home in northern Ukraine just days before the war began. Now she lives in the Yukon, while her family remains in Ukraine. 

"It's difficult all the time. It's difficult to wake up, it's difficult to go to sleep, and again, like, it's every second, I know my family is in danger," Osypova said. 

At the vigil, Osypova says she wants to lift up others whose families are in danger or who fled the war themselves.

"I want to cheer up, to support people who are there because it's not the worst scenario that I have," she said. "I still have my family, I still have my hometown, most people came to the Yukon because they were running from the war. I need to tell those people that we need to have hope."

Matlashevska says showing support from afar is appreciated by the people she knows in Ukraine.

"They're touched by all the support they get from us and from our community. They appreciate even the little gestures of lighting the candle and commemorating that date."