On 10 June 2015 in Kyiv the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) leadership led by President Eugene Czolij participated in a solemn ceremony during which President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers who defended the Donetsk airport from enemy attack, including the posthumous awarding with the Star of Hero of Ukraine to the parents and wife of Lt. Col. Ivan Zubkov.
During the ceremony President Petro Poroshenko expressed gratitude to representatives of the UWC and the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada for the assistance and support provided to the Ukrainian military with the project “Support a soldier.”
UWC President Eugene Czolij assured that the Ukrainian diaspora led by the UWC will devote all efforts to ensure that “the Ukrainian nation, which was victorious with EuroMaidan, will experience a second great victory upon driving Russian troops out from the territory of Ukraine, and enabling Ukraine to prosper as an independent European state.”
UWC Vice President Olena Koszarny highlighted, “We are one Ukrainian family. The passport we hold – Canadian or Ukrainian – is not important. The war touches every family, and we, in the diaspora, understand this.”
Joining UWC President Eugene Czolij at the ceremony were UWC Secretary General and President of the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Australia Stefan Romaniw, UWC Vice President and President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Paul Grod, UWC Vice President Olena Koszarny, UWC Treasurer Zenon Potichnyj and Director of the UWC Mission to Ukraine Serhiy Kasyanchuk.
In the photo from left: V. Chaly, S. Poltorak, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, E. Czolij and P. Grod.
