Events honour victims of the war in Ukraine

By Lethbridge Herald on February 24, 2024.

Steffanie Costigan – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The beginning of February was an unforgettable month for Ukrainians as they were devastated by the Russian-Ukrainian war that is still ongoing. 

A Ukraine memorial flag raising was held at City Hall on Friday and a candlelight vigil was also held to remember and honour those who had died in the war with Russia. 

“We would like to light up the candles and have a speech, in the memory of people, to children, who suffered from this war, who was forced to be relocated to a different countries who fled the Ukraine due to the full scale of Russian invasion, said the first president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Lethbridge Branch Mila Wagner on Friday. 

“And we would like to thank you, Canada, (for) the warm, welcoming of Ukrainians, and providing them like the necessities, as soon as they arrived to Canada, specifically to last March,” said  Wagner.

Wagner talked about the pain Ukrainians have experienced even outside of Ukraine during the war.

“It means a lot, and it brings so much pain and tears. Because it was devastating. Having friends and relatives in the Ukraine during these two years. (It was) just so much pain and frustration,” she said. 

The memorial  continues this morning with a commemorative event at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox. There will also be a memorial service for all fallen military and civilians on Saturday evening at the Southern Alberta Ethnic Association where a documentary will be shown. This event stars at 6 p.m.

“I want everybody (to) remember, what everybody was going through. It’s no matter if even (we were) in Canada during this war. Being on the phone every single day with the relatives, worried every single day that for my relatives, my family, and friends it could be the last day for them, because nobody knows what is gonna happen in the next minute,” said Wagner. 

Though is free at tonight’s event donations will be used toward buying drones and means of radio-electronic warfare to assist  the Ukrainian military. A prewarning for the documentary was advised that it would have sensitive content. 

Wagner described the documentary and the impact the war has had on Ukraine and the awareness the documentary showcased. 

“The documentary shows the people who was suffering from this war, and how much damage and destruction is still happening right now. How many, many cities it was completely wiped out from the Ukrainian territory and it’s even so hard to imagine the scale that has to be rebuilt in the future,” she said.