'My friends, they died. For what?': Ukrainians in Halifax protest war

Ukrainian refugee Tetiana Yareamchua, originally from Mariupol, has been in Canada for about four months. She says her home city is in ruins, but her parents are still there.

“It is not easy to start a new life from the very beginning, but we tried our very best,” said Yareamchua. “We are happy to escape.”

She was one of about two-dozen Ukrainians who protested the war in Halifax’s Peace and Friendship Park Saturday afternoon.

“Russia, terrorist state,” the crowd chanted.

Many waved Ukrainian flags and held signs denouncing Russian violence in the country.

When the war started, Yareamchua says, while she could see the destruction, she couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

“It was impossible to believe that in the 21st century that people can bomb you.”

It’s difficult for her 11-year-old son to overcome the violence they saw, she said.

“I ask God every single day to stop it as soon as possible,” she said as her voice trembled.

With family and friends still in Ukraine, Yareamchua says each morning she wakes up to news of bombing and death.

“My friends, they died. For what?” she said.

Her parents have an internet connection, but she says it’s spotty at best. Yareamchua wasn’t able to tell them she was leaving until she was in the neighbouring country of Georgia, filling out paperwork to get to Canada.

Lyuvov Zhyznomirska, the president of Nova Scotia’s Ukrainian-Canadian Council, estimates about 1,000 Ukrainians are currently living in the province.

Zhyznomirska says her group has been rallying in Halifax regularly since the war began and spent the summer raising funds for relief efforts.

Saturday’s rally, she says, was in solidarity with similar protests happening around the world.

“People go on with their lives as Canadians, it’s important to remind [them] war is still there,” said Zhyznomirska.

Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine on Feb. 24. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of Oct. 10, 15,592 civilian casualties were recorded, including 6,221 deaths.