John Kinnear
Nov 6, 2024
I hate war. I hate everything about it. It is a continuous curse on humanity that robs us of what could be a lasting peace and a united stable world.
It is heartbreaking to watch what is unfolding in the Ukraine war. It is too easy to turn a blind eye to this madness and carry on our merry ways, unaffected by what is happening half way around the world.
As we approach Armistice Day we would do well to remember that in two world wars we as a nation committed and lost many of our own to defend the right of democratic countries to exist in peace.
The recent history of how the country of Ukraine came to this point in time is a complicated one. If one looks back eleven years we see the beginnings of how this nation, striving to be a democratic country connected to the European Union, was summarily attacked. In a nutshell, the people rose up in February of 2014 against a totally corrupt president in what is referred to as the Maidan Revolution or the Revolution of Dignity. Maidan is a Persian word that means a square or open space and that is where they gathered en masse for weeks by the thousands. They were not to be deterred in their demands. While the Ukrainian parliament had voted overwhelmingly to join the EU, Russian pressure on the corrupt president led him to turn to Russian ties instead. What the Ukrainian people saw then was their rights to the basic human right to protest, speak and think freely and to act peacefully without the threat of punishment, were being dismissed.
Over 400,000 occupied Independence Square at one point and protests were met with deadly force. Hundreds died. The events that unfolded were painful to review through that terrible February.
As I said it is all very complicated but during that month, while the country was in parliamentary chaos, Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Thus began 8 years of conflict and attacks on the Ukraine from all sides.
It was ten years later, on February 24th, 2022, that all out war began with Russian troops attacking from Belarus in the northeast and from Crimea in the southeast, in an attempt to take over the country. They wanted to seize Kyiv, the capital city and Kharkiv, an economic and cultural hub.
Russia has always menaced its neighbours, including Finland, and its seems this time most of the Western World was prepared to support, in whatever way they could, this latest aggression. It is almost three years in now that the Ukraine has stood its ground as best it could against aircraft, missile and drone attacks and ground troops pressing them from many sides. It is heartbreaking and very disturbing to see this unfolding.
Recently I read about a young man from Outlook, Saskatchewan that died in June 10th of this year in this war. He was a combat medic on the Ukrainian front lines who was killed by a Russian drone. His name was Winton (Bud) Hardy and he was 41. His family had a history of service with his grandfather serving in World War II and his father in the armed forces for many years. Bud had all kinds of military training and decided almost instantly to join up when he heard Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s invitation to anyone who wanted to volunteer for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine. While he was not serving in an official capacity for Canada, he went specifically to help innocent people. He researched it all, saw the horrors happening and decided he wanted to do something about it. He was one of 13 Canadians killed so far in the Ukraine. Another Saskatchewan man, Joseph Hildebrand, died on November 7th, 2022 fighting in the city of Bahkmut. He was killed while pulling fellow soldiers to a safe territory. Joseph signed up into the military right after high school and was with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He served two years in Afghanistan. Joseph was “blown away” when he heard Canada was not sending soldiers to help. He just had to go.
This brings to mind a similar story I did many years ago about Anthony Peressini, from Blairmore, who died in 1938 fighting with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. This was not a war that Canada supported but thousands went to fight for a worthy cause. Anthony found his way to France and into Spain, as many others did on their own, to fight for what he felt was right of the people of Spain. Dictator Franco, assisted by Hitler, eventually crushed this effort and Anthony never came home.
It was a war that left Spain with painful memories that persist to this day. Many of those who fought and returned unacknowledged, signed up again in 1939 to fight against the same fascism that had swept over Spain. It seems there will always be a call to arms when it comes to defending democracy here and abroad.
We in the Western World are at a turning point in how far we are prepared to go to keep this beautiful country from being overrun by the Russians. Canada has poured more than 4.5 billion dollars into helping the Ukraine keeps its freedom and independence. But it seems that some of our neighbours to the south believe that it is a waste of money and depending on the election there may be an immediate end to supporting Zelenskyy and his war torn country. We can only pray that some kind of peace agreement will be put in place. The systematic destruction of many parts of the Ukraine will set that country back for years, if they survive and can rebuild. It is a country with wonderful resources and people and deserves to be able to stand alone. The toll that has been taken on this country is terrible, with millions fleeing from the onset of the attacks in 2022. By March of that year half of all the children in Ukraine had left their homes and a quarter of them left the country all together.
90% of the refugees were women and children. Russia has caused the greatest refugee crisis of the 21st century. Many fled to countries like Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Over 210,000 have actually made it to Canada on temporary emergency visas.
Next week you will learn, in a column, about two of those 210,000 that are here amongst us in the Pass. They are Iryna Oleksiivna and her husband Nik. Iryna is going to share with us, in her own words, their journey of escape to our welcoming country. They come from Kyiv where almost every day that capital city endures drone and missile attacks. I cannot for the life of me imagine how it would feel to be menaced with such deadly force living in a city of almost 3 million people. This madness must be stopped.
