A local demonstration at the train tracks along Father David Bauer Drive in Waterloo was held on Sunday in hopes of giving a sense of the horror being seen in Eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, an attack on a crowd killed at least 52 and wounded dozens of others, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Demonstrators, some with red paint marks on them to represent blood, laid on the ground beside the Waterloo tracks to symbolize the people killed.
“We don't want people get used to war and accept it,” said organizer Tanya Chuchkevych. “I know it's a little far from Canada, but we want to show it's possible in any country. Regular civilians, regular children can be waiting at a station and simply be killed just because they are waiting for a train to be evacuated to a safe place.”
Participants said they hope the demonstration helps bring awareness to the greater community about the continued attacks.
“It's really bad now. A lot of houses destroyed, a lot of civilians have died. Some of my family friends are dead,” said demonstrator Yevhen Zimovkin. “I don't know if it's going to help, but at least it gets attention from people so everyone knows what's going on in my country.”
Another participant, Taras Oleksiw, said he wanted to help out in whatever way he can.
“I may not be doing much, but I’m another voice,” he said.
Oleskiw fought in the Canadian army for five years. He adds that what he is seeing happen in the country his parents were born in is not what he considers to be proper military procedure.
“Military is not cowardice. If you’re going to fight and kill someone you do that, but picking on the civilian population is absolute cowardice and terror,” said Oleksiw.
Participants say they plan to continue doing similar demonstrations around the community until the fighting stops overseas.
