For former Londoner Volodymyr Tretyak and his wife, there was no question when it came to fighting for their home country of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
But after a year of seemingly consistent turmoil, loss and tragedy, he says that while their spirits towards victory remain high, he can’t help but notice how his once familiar territory has become almost unrecognizable.
“There’s no rules, no schedule, (just) missiles from Russia’s rocket attacks,” he said.
Friday marked the grim anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began when Putin ordered his troops into the neighbouring nation on Feb. 24, 2022, forcing millions to flee their homes in the face of Europe’s biggest and deadliest war since the Second World War.
Tretyak, who had retired and moved to the western Ukraine city of Lviv after spending 15 years in London, remembered hearing the warning of a potential Russian invasion, saying he never thought it would happen.
But as a possibility became reality, he and his wife vowed to stand by their people among the growing number of Ukrainians prepared to face the Russian invasion head-on. But in reflecting over this past year, Tretyak said the loss has been unimaginable.
“I have lost friends, relatives, all fighting against the Russian invasion and every day we have more,” he said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the sombre anniversary “the longest day of our lives.” But as morning broke on a day of reflection and commemoration, Zelensky pledged to push for victory in 2023, words that Tretyak said can already be felt on the battlefields.
“We’re pretty optimistic…. It’s really different to what the mood was one year ago when the disaster started,” he said. “As I said before, there has been lots of loss for humans, for civilians and military people. But now more than ever, Ukrainian people are pretty sure we will never lose.”
He added that he believes one of the reasons Ukrainians can still see the light at the end of the tunnel is the “overwhelming” help from other countries across the world.
“The United States, Canada, Poland, Great Britain, our whole world is helping us to fight this deadly invasion,” he said.
Canada is among 38 countries that have put forward a resolution calling for peace and for Russia to be “held accountable for the dire human rights and humanitarian consequences of the ongoing war.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said to the UN assembly on the eve of the anniversary that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “losing his grip on reality.” The statement came ahead of a vote by all UN member states on whether to condemn Moscow and call on it to end the war.
Additionally, Joly condemned Putin’s national address in which he announced on Tuesday that he was “ending some of Russia’s co-operation with the United States on nuclear safety.” Putin has also argued Ukraine’s democratically elected government is actually an “illegitimate neo-Nazi regime.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the government’s $151.7-million Ukraine support package in June 2022. Recently, Ottawa announced more than $32 million in security support for Ukraine on Friday.
The funds include $7.5 million for demining efforts, $13 million for “accountability efforts” that include addressing conflict-related sexual violence, and $12 million to counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
Roughly $9.7 million of the announcement stems from the support package, the government said in a news release.
Trudeau remarked that the consequences of Canada and its allies not supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russian forces “could be devastating” for the whole world.
But while Tretyak said that it’s hard to tell for sure when the conflict will be resolved, he said that regardless, they plan on living there permanently and “staying until the end of the fight.”
“The future in our fight for independence is 100 per cent, we will win,” he said. “We will never lose Ukraine.”
— with files from Global News’ Andrew Graham, Aaron D’Andrea and The Canadian Press.