By Paul Grod
I’ve witnessed everything from courage to horror in the last six months all around Europe. We’ve done so much and can’t stop now.
I can remember seeing the news six months ago: Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. You must understand I am a man of two homelands—my home in Toronto, and the homeland of my heart, my beloved Ukraine. The warnings came true: Russia had invaded. The fight for democracy had begun.
We at the Ukrainian World Congress couldn’t rest. We quickly launched the #UniteWithUkraine campaign to fundraise for the purchase of protective gear for our brothers, sisters, friends, and family on the front lines. I made plans to visit Ukraine, to see our delivery program and learn more about how we could help.
I tried to prepare myself, but seriously: how does one prepare to see your homeland under siege? The truth was – then and now at the half year mark – you can’t.
Not many Canadians have made the travels I have in the last six months. I’ve met with power brokers and decision-makers from Brussels to Kyiv. I met with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw. I stood with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, and actor Liev Schreiber in Davos, Switzerland. I met Ukraine’s defense minister and Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine in Kyiv. I saw the inhumane barbarity of Irpin and Bucha.
But nothing I’ve ever done—nothing—quite compares to being at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
I watched my fellow Ukrainians flee their homes, leaving their loved ones behind to fight.
I saw fear and also resilience in the eyes of those mothers and their children, with a few bags of essential belongings, seeking sanctuary until they could return to a peaceful homeland.
The streets were lined with thousands innocent people trying to make sense of what was happening.
Now we see from a distance. The images of destruction and violence. Acres of burned farmland. Residential buildings, hospitals, schools, cultural centers completely leveled. The dead. The most frail and vulnerable peaceful Ukrainians murdered—for what?
It can’t all have been for nothing. Aug. 24 is Ukraine’s Independence Day. We must not let it be the last.
