About 100 people gathered in support of Ukraine at city hall in Saint John on a sunny Saturday to show solidarity with their friends and family back home.
The Ukrainian community in Saint John is made up of about 200 families.
Oleg Belyaev attended the rally and told us Ukraine “is bleeding right now but it stands firm.”
“All my relatives and friends [are] right now on the streets of Kyiv and Odesa. We are here to show the world and Ukrainians we are standing with them. We are supporting them fully,” Belyaev said.
Oksana Posatska moved to Saint John seven years ago.
Posatska said they “cry with Ukraine and the feeling of helplessness is killing them.”
“We wanted to get our governments to put more sanctions against Russia, to ban Russia from SWIFT bank system, we wanted NATO to close the air above Ukraine,” Posatska said.
She said they count the days and count the minutes while glued to the news and constantly checking on their relatives.
The mayors of Saint John and Rothesay were both on hand along with various members of city council.
Ukrainian flags were highly visible along with many homemade signs.
— Tamara Steele (@tamarasteele1) February 26, 2022
