Waterloo region Ukrainians share how their lives have been impacted as the war at home rages on

Residents in Waterloo region are showing their support by standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes, with a Friday night vigil held in downtown Kitchener to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The vigil was a show of solidarity for the people of Ukraine, but also a sign of how long this conflict has gone on much longer than expected.

"All of us are together here to respect all people who give their lives for freedom," said Halayna Badalko, a member of Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Waterloo-Wellington.

Badalko fled Ukraine three weeks after the war started and didn't think the conflict would last as long as it has.

"When I was evacuating from Kharkiv, I saw the horrible force," said Badalko. "I was going and the bombing was happening all the time."

Many at the vigil still have family in Ukraine and have been on edge for the past 365 days.

"I'm happy when I get a message from my father and my grandmother saying that they are alive," said Andriy. " I want to see all the territories that are occupied freed from Russians."

Kateryna Ulianova fled from Ukraine shortly after the Russian invasion, making the difficult decision to leave relatives behind in the war-torn city of Kyiv.

She and her family spent six months in Hungary before moving to Waterloo.

“We never know the next time we call them, [if] will they be alive or not,” she said.

Adding that at the time of their departure, they thought they would only be gone for a few days before returning home.

One year later, she doesn’t know when she’ll get that chance.

“It’s insane. I don’t know how this could happen,” Ulianova said.

She said at this point she just wants the war to be over.

As the conflict continues, Ukrainians in Waterloo region said the past year has shown Ukraine’s resilience as a country.

“Everybody in the world thought Ukraine would fold in, like, one week,” Michael Doroshenko, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Waterloo-Wellington. “They had to leave some family members behind or their friends and acquaintances dying because of bombs falling in the city.”

Father Yaroslav Kopchyn, with the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Transfiguration, says the church is offering support to mothers and their children arriving from Ukraine.

“We will stand to the end. We will stand to the victory,” said Father Kopchyn. “More than 40 families that we try to help. They try to start a new life."