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A yellow and blue flag fluttered in the breeze outside of Regina City Hall on Friday.
The Queen City raised the Ukrainian flag to commemorate the two-year anniversary Saturday of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Serhia Balchanko was among the crowd in attendance for the ceremony. He said as people adapt to live in war, they can sometimes forget what is important.
“It is not normal for our world to live in war,” he said after the ceremony. “This event is like a reminder that, ‘Hey, what’s happening right now? We don’t need to forget about this.’
“People are dying every day, every minute and it’s incorrect. It shouldn’t be (happening).”
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Balchenko, 39, moved to Saskatchewan with his family a year ago. He now lives in Regina with his wife and two kids.
He said he felt very welcomed in Canada.
“Canadian people made us a part of (their) family. I didn’t feel any discomfort,” he said. “Our Canadian family is like our family.”
However, Balchenko says he still thinks about the war and his family back home every day.
Ken Krawetz, honourary consul for Ukraine in Saskatchewan (fourth from right), Terry Dennis, legislative secretary responsible for Ukraine relations (third from right), Olha Kollos, a Ukrainian refugee and resident of Regina (second from right), and Elena Krueger, a member of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s Saskatchewan Provincial Council (right), joined religious leaders at the provincial legislature on Friday. (Roman Hayter/980 CJME)
During an event earlier Friday at the Legislative Building, Olha Kollos said when she first stepped off the plane in Saskatchewan in June of 2022, she had feelings of frustration and nervousness because of the unfamiliar situation.
“I knew about Canada as (a) country and that’s it,” she said.
Kollos, who has a master’s degree in journalism, started her new journey in Regina as a server. Although she was told she was overqualified for the position, she needed to make an income.
“I am a newcomer, I have three kids, and they won’t eat my diploma,” she said.
Kollos said the Ukrainian community has helped her to establish her life, and she is now happy to call Regina home and sees lots of opportunities for a bright future for her children once they graduate.
When thinking of the situation in Ukraine, Kollos said it’s still painful and she wishes for victory and peace.
Kollos’s parents have arrived in Saskatchewan for a two-week stay, and she said her parents won’t have to worry about bombings or air-raid sirens during their stay and can finally have a good sleep.
“I’m praying every day for all (of) these terrible things to stop,” she said, adding she wants her parents to stay with her forever.
Kollos said she’s thankful for the military and humanitarian assistance that has been provided to Ukraine, and said without it her country wouldn’t survive.
“I want everybody to remember that my country is still fighting and it needs support to win,” Kollos said.
Elena Krueger, the president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, said at Friday’s event that it’s important to honour, remember and pray for those who are defending Ukraine.
Krueger said more than 6,000 displaced Ukrainians are in Saskatchewan currently and they’re actively engaging in the community through volunteering and working.
Krueger said Saskatchewan has a longstanding connection with Ukraine, with 14 per cent of the province’s population being of Ukrainian descent.
“We’ve been wanting to engage with the country since its initial independence in 1991, so it’s important to maintain those ties in any way that we can, ” Krueger said.
“In many ways we feel the same way we did that first day on Feb. 24 in 2022. We feel shock, we feel horror (and) we feel fear that the war continues.”
But Krueger said the Ukrainian community has hope, and its people are resilient, hard-working and tenacious, and are looking forward to a victory.
The most common feeling is that of gratitude from the Ukrainian community, she explained, adding she’s thankful to the provincial government, various settlement organizations and the individuals who lend a helping hand.
“It’s those little connections that matter, and demonstrate the spirit of the people of Saskatchewan, and their willingness to give and love and support,” she said.
— With files from 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk and 980 CJME’s Roman Hayter