Londoners have the chance to show their support for Ukraine Sunday afternoon.
The London Ukrainian Centre and Ukrainian Canadian Congress have organized a rally at Victoria Park.
For Volodymyr Vorobets, the president of the London Ukrainian Centre, the rally is about spreading awareness.
“There is a lot of misinformation on social media, (and) I want people to know Ukrainians are peaceful people,” he says.
Vorobets also hopes the rally will encourage politicians to act faster, and “not to drag their feet and promise something to be done tomorrow. It should’ve been done yesterday.”
Local politicians have been invited to attend the rally, which is taking place at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Jessica Brown-Butenko, a Londoner who is Russian and married to a Ukrainian, says she and her husband will be attending the rally to show their support for Ukraine.
“I’m going to be wearing a sign saying ‘I’m Russian and I love a Ukrainian’ and a hashtag #NoWar. And my husband is going to be wearing ‘I’m a Ukrainian and I love a Russian,’ hashtag #NoWar,” she says.
Both Vorobets and Brown-Butenko have family in Ukraine.
Vorobets says he’s constantly worried for his family’s safety.
“They’re still alive, thank God, for now. But they’re prepared to fight,” he said. “They hear explosions (and) this is too much.”
“I’ve read history books while going to school, and it was just stories, (but) now it’s real life in 2022,” he continued.
Brown-Butenko says it’s painful knowing her husband’s family fear for their lives.
“To hear them call me and cry, and to see his family suffer is so heartbreaking,” she said. “To see the community heartbroken that they could be losing their land, their country, their home, their families… it’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
The rally is taking place at Victoria Park’s gate at Richmond Street and Central Avenue at 2 p.m. Sunday.
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