Four years on, Ukrainians in Calgary mark anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine | CBC News
Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
As Ukraine marks four years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of that country, some Ukrainians living in Calgary say it’s hard to believe how much their lives have changed.
“It’s really unbelievable that it’s already the fourth anniversary,” said Mariana Sirko, a rally committee coordinator with the Calgary branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
Speaking at an anniversary rally at Calgary city hall Sunday, Sirko said it is important for the community to come together and remind people that the war isn’t over.
“We need to stay together and be united — not only within our Ukrainian community, but also with other countries as well,” said Sirko, who came to Calgary from Ukraine two years ago.
Tuesday marks four years since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Despite the relative safety they say they have found in the last four years, many Ukrainians in Calgary are still grappling with how the conflict has affected their families and homeland — and the new meaning of home they have had to create for themselves.
Nearly 300,000 Ukrainians fled to Canada between 2022 and 2024, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, Alberta’s parliamentary secretary for settlement services and Ukrainian evacuees, wrote in a statement that Alberta has welcomed more than 65,000 Ukrainian evacuees who have settled in 213 communities in the province.
“Four years on, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to bring immense suffering and loss. What began as an unprovoked attack has become Europe’s most significant conflict since the Second World War,” the statement reads.
“Standing their ground against this unjustified aggression, thousands of brave Ukrainians have given their lives defending their country, their democracy and their freedom.
“As the fight continues, we remain hopeful for a just and lasting peace. Until that day comes, Ukraine has our full support.”
New understandings of home
Yurii Holohovskyi and his family moved to Calgary three years ago. He said attacks on electricity infrastructure in Ukraine meant there was no heat in the winter, and he and his wife were worried about not being able to keep their 11-month-old daughter warm.
Holohovskyi said for him, home will always be in Ukraine, although he thinks of Calgary as a second home. For his now three-year-old daughter, however, he thinks what she considers home will be different as she gets older.
“It’s probably changing for my daughter, but not for me, you know, because my daughter, most of her life is here,” he said. “In our heart, just only one place for home, and it’s for Ukraine.”
For Hanna Savro, who has lived in Calgary for nearly four years, home is not a specific place. She told CBC News in an email she was forced to evacuate her home in Donetsk in 2014 when Russia occupied the city, before leaving Ukraine altogether in 2022.
“Having lost my ‘home’ twice, I now consider my ‘home’ to be where my husband and children are, where there is safety and freedom for them,” Savro wrote.
She added Canada has given her family a new home, and that they hope to stay in the country and build a new future “without constant stress.”
Oleksandr Swan said since moving to Calgary from Kyiv in 2022 with his wife and two sons, life has looked completely different, as they’ve had to navigate new systems, like banking and housing.
“So to approach anything here, you have to move everything 180 degrees and it’s just different,” Swan said.
Russian forces struck Ukraine overnight with a barrage of nearly 300 drones, killing at least one person and injuring several others, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. Russia also struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, causing significant fires that were later extinguished.
He said part of what has helped has been immersing himself in the local culture and being involved in the community. He’s currently building a business, similar to the media company he owned in Kyiv, and is in the process of applying for Canadian citizenship.
Still, his parents, brother and sister remain in Ukraine, and it can be challenging to connect with them because of the nine-hour time difference and ongoing blackouts, he said.
For that reason, he explained, home for him has become “the place where you build memories” — no matter where that is.
“Some of us don’t have home anymore. But we have country, and country is fighting for their independence,” Swan said. “But if you’re here [in Canada] live your life here because otherwise you waste your time.”