On March 22 members of the Ukrainian Canadian community in Toronto gathered to hear first-hand accounts from volunteers who have spent much of the past year on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. The event - entitled Na Linii Vohniu (On the Line of Fire) - featured Serhii Kuzan, a Maidan activist and the head of a leading all-Ukrainian volunteer group Vilni Liudy (Free People), and Nazar Volynets, also a Maidan activist and commander of a platoon in the Aidar volunteer battalion.
Kuzan has been working closely with the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) over the past year to ensure that money raised through funds such as the Friends of the Ukrainian Defense Forces Fund (FUDF) is received, well-spent, and that materials purchased are directly delivered to the front lines.
“It is a pleasure for me to stand here in front of you all and finally thank you for the work you have done since the first days of this war, for your donations, but mostly for not being indifferent, for the concern which has continually been demonstrated by the Ukrainian community in Canada. Believe me when I say this is extremely important for all of Ukraine, and especially for the soldiers which today are fighting in the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) zone,” stated Kuzan.
Vilni Liudy began as a self-defense unit established during the EuroMaidan Revolution. “We were there from the first days of the Revolution of Dignity,” said Kuzan. “Vilni Liudy was the name of our fourteenth sotnia (company) of the Maidan Self-Defence units.” When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in March 2014 and Russian-backed terrorist operations commenced in the Donbas region shortly thereafter, like many other sotnias, Vilni Liudy saw their role evolve from that of defenders of the Maidan square to defenders of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in the east. It was during this time that Vilni Liudy increasingly became a volunteer organization aimed at supplying largely unprepared regular and volunteer Ukrainian forces on the front lines with necessary supplies.
“[The help provided] was very diversified,” Kuzan stated. “As you can see, we began with supplying water and personal hygiene items such as toothbrushes and socks, and now we are delivering vehicles, specialized optical equipment, drones, thermal vision devices – very, very expensive things,” he said, referring to pictures being shown on a screen behind him.
To date, Vilni Liudy has raised and distributed over 32 million hryvnias (approximately $1.7 million CAD) in needed supplies and financial support.
As a volunteer on the front lines, Kuzan was able to witness, first-hand, the transformation that the Ukrainian army has undergone over the past year. “Our army has changed. They are not those soldiers which I remember a year ago … when the occupations [of Crimea and Donbass] first began,” he said. Back then, regular soldiers lacked the most basic of necessities such as food, protective gear, and proper training, Kuzan recalled, and although problems in the army are not likely to resolve themselves anytime soon, “the work which people have done, which Ukrainians all over the world have done, was in that moment, invaluable.”
It was countless volunteers and everyday people that came to the rescue of the army after it was left in a discombobulated state after years of neglect by previous Ukrainian governments. When large numbers of soldiers did not get basic protection from the state – such as bullet proof vests and helmets – “they got it from the people,” Kuzan said.
“Every day, hundreds of volunteers went to the ATO zone to deliver help, clothing, food, water, and even building materials, so that they could secure their positions,” he said. “But most importantly, every soldier got a sense of respect, the sense that behind him stood not just his commander, but the entire Ukrainian nation.”
Over the past year, the Ukrainian Canadian community has rallied behind the Ukrainian war effort, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and working with the Canadian government to take a firm stand against ongoing Russian aggression. This effort, noted Kuzan, has not gone unnoticed by those fighting in Ukraine.
“I always recall this one example – one of many – when after we had unloaded and distributed the supplies and had time to socialize a bit, [a commander] asked me where everything was from. And I told him that ‘This, this, and this is from the Ukrainians in Canada.’ And he said to me, ‘You know Serhii, you come to me so often and have passed on so much stuff from those Ukrainians in Canada … that [now] Canada has become closer to me than my native Kharkiv.”
“And it wasn’t just your material support,” he went on, “It was your lobbying efforts, all your demonstrations, rallies, and calls, which has made Canada the biggest friend to Ukraine. This simply would not have happened without you, and because of this, I think independent Ukraine has to be grateful to you throughout all its years of existence.”
In addition to providing a platform for frontline volunteers to share their experiences, the event also demonstrated the unwavering resolve of Ukrainian Canadians in continuing to helping those who have fought and continue to fight for an independent Ukraine. At the event, Oksana Prociuk, CEO of Buduchnist Credit Union, presented three cheques totaling $100,000 from dividends allocated by BCU members for three humanitarian projects: the Friends of the Ukrainian Defence Forces Fund, Guardian Angels Ukraine, and the Nebesna Sotnia (Heavenly Hundred) Fund.
Kuzan spoke not only about the war, but also about how Ukrainian society has changed over the past year and a half. Kuzan, who lives in Kharkiv, a city not far from the Ukrainian-Russian border and the most pro-Russian region after Crimea and Donbas, said he was strongly impacted by how much people have changed. “Who would have thought that in Kharkiv, entirely Russian speaking people would be saying ‘Slava Ukraini - Heroyam Slava!’ (Glory to Ukraine – Glory to its Heroes!)? … Who would have thought that we would overthrow that giant Lenin on Freedom Square?” he said. Unexpectedly, Kuzan then announced that he had brought a little piece of this “dunce” with him to Canada, and presented it to Orest Steciw, President of the National Executive of the League of Ukrainian Canadians, to accept as a gift for the Ukrainian community. He also presented Steciw with a Ukrainian flag, signed by soldiers at the front.
“That uplift in patriotism happened thanks to all of us, because we became united, because we showed that we are a nation despite where we were, either in Ukraine or beyond its borders,” said Kuzan.
Volynets, who has recently returned from eight months on the front, echoed the sentiments expressed by Kuzan. “That which is happening right now in the war is a huge victory, because [Ukrainians] have never fought for our independence so far from Kyiv,” he said.
To recognize and thank them for their heroism, Buduchnist Credit Union gifted silver tryzubs, (tridents, the national symbol of Ukraine) to Kuzan, Volynets, and Serhii Hordiychuk, a veteran soldier who lost his arm while fighting in the ATO.
“I am convinced that this period, this work, and your work, will be written in the pages of a new, true, history of independent Ukraine,” Kuzan said, “Because history is written by the victorious, and we will be victorious.”
The Toronto event kicked off a cross-Canada tour for Kuzan, which was sponsored by Buduchnist Credit Union and included presentations in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Hamilton, St. Catharines, London, Oshawa, and Ottawa. In addition to meeting with the Ukrainian Canadian community, he also met with Canadian Ministers, Members of Parliament, and members of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group while in Ottawa.
On March 22 members of the Ukrainian Canadian community in Toronto gathered to hear first-hand accounts from volunteers who have spent much of the past year on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. The event - entitled Na Linii Vohniu (On the Line of Fire) - featured Serhii Kuzan, a Maidan activist and the head of a leading all-Ukrainian volunteer group Vilni Liudy (Free People), and Nazar Volynets, also a Maidan activist and commander of a platoon in the Aidar volunteer battalion.
Vilni Liudy began as a self-defense unit established during the EuroMaidan Revolution. “We were there from the first days of the Revolution of Dignity,” said Kuzan. “Vilni Liudy was the name of our fourteenth sotnia (company) of the Maidan Self-Defence units.” When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in March 2014 and Russian-backed terrorist operations commenced in the Donbas region shortly thereafter, like many other sotnias, Vilni Liudy saw their role evolve from that of defenders of the Maidan square to defenders of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in the east. It was during this time that Vilni Liudy increasingly became a volunteer organization aimed at supplying largely unprepared regular and volunteer Ukrainian forces on the front lines with necessary supplies.
To date, Vilni Liudy has raised and distributed over 32 million hryvnias (approximately $1.7 million CAD) in needed supplies and financial support.
In addition to providing a platform for frontline volunteers to share their experiences, the event also demonstrated the unwavering resolve of Ukrainian Canadians in continuing to helping those who have fought and continue to fight for an independent Ukraine. At the event, Oksana Prociuk, CEO of Buduchnist Credit Union, presented three cheques totaling $100,000 from dividends allocated by BCU members for three humanitarian projects: the Friends of the Ukrainian Defence Forces Fund, Guardian Angels Ukraine, and the Nebesna Sotnia (Heavenly Hundred) Fund.
