Archpriest Cornell Zubritsky typically hears the loud wailing of air raids hundreds of kilometres away in Ukraine.
The sirens screech from the cellphones of congregants on the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Edmonton.
“A whole lot of them have the air raid siren app on their telephones right here in Canada, and it’ll go off. They try this in order that if it’s their metropolis, they get on the telephone instantly to see if their kinfolk are OK,” Zubritsky stated in a latest interview.
“For them, that is actual. After which it makes it actual for me as a result of they’re linked. They’re preventing the battle on daily basis.”
Zubritsky stated most of his 150-person congregation are immigrants from Ukraine. The church’s membership declined in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic however has grown once more with households from Ukraine.
Monday marks three years for the reason that Russian invasion. Tens of hundreds have been killed.
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About 300,000 Ukrainians have come to Canada on emergency visas since 2022.
Zubritsky stated some who attend his weekly church service have been shedding hope, and so they don’t need to hear him discuss what’s occurring of their homeland.
“For just a few hours not less than, they’ll come … and have a bit little bit of reprieve of the day by day stresses of getting your nation torn aside,” he stated.
“They don’t want reminders. They’re reminded on daily basis. They get texts, they get telephone calls.”
Sitting within the church, Snizhana Kshetska stated she hasn’t given a lot thought to the anniversary.
She and her three kids, ages 10, 14 and 18, have been in Canada for the reason that battle began. Her husband had been within the Ukrainian military however was launched final yr and joined the household in Edmonton.
“I don’t measure my life like I’m right here in Canada one yr or three years. For me, it’s terrible on daily basis, not like a 3rd anniversary of the beginning of this terrible battle,” she stated.
“I believe on daily basis it’s arduous to understand that this occurred with us, and no one helps us to cease this.”
Kshetska stated she want to return to Ukraine sometime and be with the family and friends she left behind.
“From my children, I’m not certain,” she stated. “I believe I’ll ask them and it is going to be their alternative.”
Zubritsky stated he now not supplies simply tissues and emotional help for these from Ukraine. He helps them discover jobs, take care of landlords and kind immigration points.
“As in the event that they didn’t have sufficient to take care of, with a diminished quantity of immigration allowed this yr, they’re all panicking that Canada goes to kick them out,” he stated.
“I come house some days and I’ve cry over the day that I’ve over simply the final plight of all of those people who find themselves right here.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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