'It's a scary thing': Saskatoon Ukrainian community concerned over brewing conflict
Iryna Matsiuk says the news coming from Ukraine is troubling and concerning.
"This is not something you think is real, but then the war comes and knocks on your door,” said Matsiuik, with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatoon.
Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border, demanding that NATO promise it will never allow Ukraine to join and that other actions, such as stationing alliance troops in former Soviet bloc countries, be curtailed.
Matsiuk is one of the speakers at a virtual town hall Tuesday featuring Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Matsiuk hopes to push for support and highlight the concern for those in Ukraine.
“The safety of families and friends, because if something starts happening, what do we do, there will be millions of people displaced again."
Canada has already imposed a lengthy series of sanctions related to Russia dating back to 2014 when its military forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
That 2014 conflict is on the minds of Rostyk and Olesya Hursky who moved from Ukraine to Canada in 1992 and 2001 respectively.
They have three children born in Canada and say, they are raising them to be proud of their Ukrainian heritage.
When they watch the political unrest unfolding in Ukraine, a country that Rostyk Hursky says has never left his heart, it is troubling.
With family still in Ukraine, the escalation with Russia hits home.
“It’s a scary thing because as a parent you think what would you do in that situation,” Olesya Hursky told CTV News.
She still has close ties to Ukraine, the couple founding a non-profit organization called Stream of Hopes that sends supplies and money to orphans in Ukraine.
She says she’s talked to friends in Ukraine.
“It’s constant pressure and depressing potentially getting bombed any day and even figuring out where the nearest bomb shelter is and what you’d take with you,” Hursky said.
They’re part of the nearly one and a half million Ukrainian Canadians living in Canada.
They’re thankful for the help governments like Canada have provided, but fear it’s only the start.
“Now is enough, but for God’s sake and things escalate, that’s when I think people of Ukraine will need support and help,” Rostyk Hursky said.
With Canadian Press and Associated Press files
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.