Ukrainian students, teachers at Etobicoke school find support as assault on homeland continues

The principal of a school in Etobicoke, Ont., — where more than 90 per cent of students are of Ukrainian origin — says teachers there are equipped to provide emotional support to the kids, as Russian forces continue their assault on Ukraine.

Lily Hordienko says children at the St. Demetrius Catholic School are between four to 14 years old.

"Our children are very aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now," Hordienko told CBC News. 

"Many of [the students] are coming with a lot of questions, fears, anxieties, so we wanted to be here ready for them."

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a special military operation on Ukraine before dawn on Thursday, ignoring Western warnings and saying the "neo-Nazis" ruling Ukraine threatened Russia's security.

According to Hordienko, half of the staff members also have family members in Ukraine, so they are turning to each other for support.

"It's very disheartening. It's a very emotional time," she said. "We're turning to one another."

Canadians continue to show support for Ukraine and its fierce and urgent battle against a Russian invasion that has tossed life there into sudden chaos.

Saturday marked the third day of Russia's wide-ranging invasion of Ukraine — a move that has prompted condemnation by many world leaders and triggered a raft of sanctions.

'Words of encouragement and support'

Hordienko said the school's staff held a staff meeting on Thursday morning, the day Russia initiated attacks on Ukraine. 

"We had some prayers, a little bit of words of encouragement and support," she said.

Hordienko said she also talked with the teachers about what to look for with the students.

Dniel Slavatynskyy, a Grade 8 student at the school says he feels hurt when he sees what's happening in Ukraine.

Slavatynskyy's family returned to Ukraine shortly after his birth in Canada. The family moved back to Canada when he was four years old. 

"Ukraine is my home country, it's like part of my family, we talk about it every day," he told CBC News.

"We talk Ukrainian every day in our home, we talk Ukrainian at school, it's like [we're in] Ukraine but in a different country, you know.

"I feel bad. I see, like, people live streaming the sirens … people afraid because there are sirens everywhere. I feel bad, I feel kind of scared, you know," Slavatynskyy added.

TCDSB will provide whatever is needed

Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Markus de Domenico says Ukrainian families are going through "tremendous distress" right now.

He said that as soon as the assault started, he reached out to the principals and staff in his ward to let them know that the board is there to support the emotional and mental health of the students and staff.

"It's almost unimaginable to think of what they must be feeling with their friends and family back home in Ukraine and the Russian aggression against the civilian population in many cases," de Domenico told CBC News.

"The board is very willing to provide any guidance, counselling, whatever is needed."

Russia's assault is the biggest on a European state since the Second World War and threatens to upend the continent's post-Cold War order.

The crisis has galvanized the NATO military alliance, which has announced a series of moves to reinforce its eastern flank. While NATO has said it will not deploy troops to Ukraine, a string of member countries are sending military aid.

Two weeks before the assault commenced, Hordienko said St. Demetrius Catholic School organized a day in support of Ukraine.

"Students came dressed in blue and yellow and we took pictures and we made a poster and we sent it to the Ukraine-Canadian Congress and we tweeted it, we shared it with the Ukrainian citizens as well," she said.

Hordienko said members of the Ukrainian community in Canada "feel helpless," but "we're trying to do what we can, we're sending prayers, we're sending what we can but it's more difficult to not be able to do anything more than that."

"I'm getting strength from Ukraine, I'm getting strength from the citizens of Ukraine as they are unbelievably determined, unbelievably driven to fight this fight and to take it to the end," Hordienko said.