READ ALSO: LETTER: Ukraine provides new respect for freedom READ ALSO: ‘It’s my time to do what I can’: Victoria man headed to Ukraine to assist at hospital City head of engagement Bill Eisenhauer responded that the blue bulbs on the bridge are permanently encased, leaving the city without the ability to light the bridge in solidarity with Ukraine’s flag colours. Both gestures “stand in support of the Ukrainian community in our city,” the city stated on its Facebook page.īut why weren’t yellow bulbs added to the distinct blue lights rimming the Johnson Street bridge, as another show of support for the embattled country and its residents?Īt least one Victoria resident asked that of city councillors, according to an email sent to Black Press Media. 25, Victoria raised a Ukrainian flag on the Pandora Avenue side of city hall and that evening the hall was illuminated with the flag’s colours, blue and yellow. "Please expand your efforts to bring back peace in our peaceful country," he said.The City of Victoria has made a number of visible gestures in response to the escalating conflict in Ukraine – although one request from a resident has proven a bridge too far. "We all need to do more to stop Russia, to protect Ukraine." Zelenskyy thanked Canada for the sanctions as well as military equipment and humanitarian aid.īut, "unfortunately this just did not bring an end to the war," he said. "Democracies around the world are lucky to have you as our champion," he said, vowing that Ukraine "can count on our unwavering and steadfast support." "Vladimir Putin's blatant disregard for human life is unacceptable," the Canadian leader said, while praising Zelenskyy as an inspiration. The move brings the number of Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities sanctioned by Ottawa since the start of the war last month to nearly 500. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy is to address the American Congress, after having spoken to the British and European parliaments.Įarlier, Trudeau announced sanctions against 15 more Russian officials, including "government and military elites who are complicit in this illegal war."
"This is exactly the situation that our city of Mariupol is suffering right now," Zelenskyy said, as some 20,000 fled the besieged port city on Tuesday.Ĭanada has the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world with nearly 1.4 million (3.8%) of the total population being of Ukrainian descent. The Ukrainian leader described cities with no heat or electricity, without any means of communicating, and running out of food and water as they seek cover in bomb shelters. Several times in his 12-minute speech, Zelenskyy addressed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly, asking him how he would explain war to his own children: "Justin, can you imagine you and your children hearing all these severe explosions" starting each morning at 4 a.m.?įILE - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits a Ukrainian church to speak with members of the Ukrainian community as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Toronto, Canada, March 4, 2022. "Imagine that Canadian facilities have been bombed similarly as our buildings and memorial places are being bombed," he said. "I know that you all support Ukraine," Zelenskyy said to MPs, "but I would like you to understand, to feel what we feel every day." Zelenskyy asked rhetorically how Canadians would react if Russia laid siege to Vancouver, bombed the Ottawa airport or targeted the CN Tower in Toronto, while listing off historic sites in Ukraine that have come under bombardment. "How many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?" "Can you imagine when you call your friends and you ask to please close the sky, close the air space, please stop the bombing? … And they (simply) express their deep concerns about the situation," he lamented. FILE - A view shows a bomb crater after an air strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, at a railway station in the town of Okhtyrka, in the Sumy region, Ukraine, March 14, 2022.
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