‘It wasn’t the Ukrainians that started this war’: Ukrainians in London rally in support of their homeland

The local Ukrainian community is preparing for a weekend rally to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion. CTV London’s Gerry Dewan reports.

There have been a number of rallies in London’s Victoria Park since the start of the Ukraine/Russia war, either to condemn Russia’s actions or to celebrate Ukraine’s culture and traditions.

But a rally planned for Saturday comes with a special sense of urgency as Russian attacks intensify.

Daria Hryckiw is president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s London Branch. She became emotional when speaking of the hardships the people of Ukraine are facing, “We have to support Ukraine. We have to support Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian people, Ukrainian children, because Ukraine is destroyed now.”

Monday will mark the third anniversary of Ukraine’s war with Russia, and that anniversary comes with U.S. President Donald Trump blaming Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war.

He also claimed that Zelenskyy has not run free and fair elections. Both comments have been broadly criticized as falsehoods, including by the leaders of other nations.

Roman Kozack is a semi-retired physician based in London. He was born in Ukraine, and is troubled by Trump’s comments, “Hopefully President Trump would realize that it wasn’t the Ukrainians that started this war. We were attacked for no reason other than for a territorial grab.”

Kozack has trained Ukrainian physicians and been part of convoys taking humanitarian supplies from Wales to Ukraine. The communities he has visited in Ukraine have stands of flags representing those from the region who have lost their lives to the war.

Kozack has concerns about President Trump’s commitment to enter into negotiations with Russia about the future of Ukraine without Ukrainian leadership at the table, “I don’t know how you can expect to get a peace negotiation without the country that’s been attacked being involved. I think they’ll have to involve Ukraine because Ukraine has to live with this settlement. So it has to be involved in the settlement.”

There are rallies planned at locations across Canada and around the world. Organizers of the London gathering are hoping the people of Ukraine will see the support, and a message will be sent to international leaders.

The rally gets underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at the corner of Richmond Row and Central Avenue.