Ukrainian flag raised at Vernon City Hall

Close to 50 people gathered outside Vernon City Hall on a gray, drizzly Wednesday for the raising of the Ukrainian flag.

Flying the flag is the City of Vernon’s way of showing support for Ukraine, which is fighting against a Russian invasion.

The flag was raised while Father Steban Dovhoshyia of the St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church, Andrea Malysh the artistic director of the Sadok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Canadian Community of Vernon, and local resident Olga Piano sang the Ukrainian national anthem.

Mayor Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters that flying the Ukrainian flag has two purposes: showing support for Ukraine and Ukrainian-Canadians, and raising awareness of humanitarian efforts to support Ukraine.

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“I just feel dwarfed by the impact that [Ukraine] is experiencing. This is such a tiny thing, but it’s really important for us to do that,” said Cumming.

The raising of the flag comes just days after a large rally in support of Ukraine happened at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Vernon.

Father Steban Dovhoshyia, Andrea Malysh, and Mayor Victor Cumming, students from Mission Hill Elementary and local residents gathered outside city hall Wednesday for the raising of the Ukrainian flag. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

People gathered outside city hall with flags and signs to support Ukraine. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

Speaking with Vernon Matters, Dovhoshiya said it was good to see people come together to show their support for Ukraine.

“The moral support is huge, huge,” said Dovhoshiya.

“I honestly did not expect that at all, but people come to the church, they stay, they stay during the day, they come to the liturgy offering their prayers for Ukraine.”

He also thanked all those who have come out to show their support, saying the people who pray for Ukraine is a ‘second army’ for them.

Malysh told Vernon Matters that seeing all the local support, be it the raising of the flag or the rally over the weekend, has been very good to see and the approximately 20,000 Ukrainian-Canadians living in the North Okanagan.

“Raising our flag in solidarity with Ukraine means everything to us, and I think that’s what’s happening right across the country and across the world,” said Malysh.

“We are coming together and what I’m finding is our world’s just becoming smaller and I think that Ukraine feels that support and they need it, they need our support.”

She added that along with flying flags and showing up to rallies, people can take action by demanding more from the upper levels of government.

“We’re asking two things; one is to contact your local MP. We’re still wanting a no fly zone over Ukraine protecting our civilians. I mean they’re bombing residential areas and hospitals, it’s barbaric,” said Malysh.

“We’re also asking for a no travel Visa to assist our refugees to fast track them into Canada.”

She said that approximately 650,000 people have already fled Ukraine, most of whom are women and children as the men are being drafted into the war.

“It’s really tragic because there are a lot of families there like mine who don’t want to leave. That’s their home and they don’t want to leave their husbands and their brothers and their uncles and they want to stay and they want to fight and they want to be at home and they want their country.”

Malysh also stated that it’s important to recognize that what is happening in Ukraine is a threat to global democracy and freedom.

Also among those who came out to show their support was the Grade 5/6 class from Mission Hill Elementary who brought their own hand-made signs and flags.

Students from Mission Hill school were among the dozens of people who gathered for the raising of the Ukrainian flag. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters)

Their teacher, Chad Soon, told Vernon Matters that the students wanted to do their part to show their support for the people of Ukraine, as well as the Ukrainian-Canadians who live in the area.

“This happened very quickly, and we were all feeling very helpless, [looking] any little thing we could do to show support for those ideals and for humanity,” said Soon.

“We were struggling, everyone’s struggling because we can’t be there in Ukraine to stand up to the aggression, but it’s great to see the world come together for this cause.”

Soon also stated that what is happening in Ukraine is relevant to the students’ curriculum, as they had just learned about the Ukrainian internment during the first world war, and now, 100 years later, the people of Ukraine are fighting for their freedom.

He added that with the large Ukrainian-Canadian population in the region, that connection to history is important to acknowledge and learn about.

Dovhoshiya noted that having the class attend the flag raising ceremony was good to see.

“It’s very important to teach our children the history, the true history, not the history that Russians want us to see. We need to learn and teach our children the truth [about] what is actually happening in the world and, especially, in Ukraine.”

In addition to raising moral support, Dovhoskiya and Malysh are raising money to support Ukraine. Donations made to the St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church parish will be sent directly to Ukraine. Malysh said humanitarian aid is being delivered through the Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal and the Canada Ukraine Foundation.

The flag will fly over Vernon City Hall for three weeks, which Cumming said his “wildest expectations is that’s all we’ll need to have it up for.”