Christmas in the shadow of war

One of the first things Julia Krykavska does every day is check the news and contact her family to make sure they survived the night.

Krykavska, who has family and friends on the front lines in the war in Ukraine, has been sent photos and videos by loved ones that show the “horrible” impact since the war began in 2022.

“Not everyone will be at the Christmas table this year, same as the last four years,” she said.

As the war in Ukraine approaches its fourth year, the need to help forces fight back is still strong for Westman’s Ukrainian community, especially in the season of giving.

Krykavska is a volunteer for Tryzub, an association based in Brandon focused on keeping Ukrainian culture alive. Earlier this week, the organization hosted a Christmas event followed by a bake sale, with the proceeds going directly to help Ukrainian forces.

“It has been very hard for all of us. It’s always emotional to talk about the war, especially when it comes to the holidays like Christmas or Easter,” said Krykavska, who is from the western city of Radekhiv.

“Christmas is a time to spend with your family, Christmas is a time to give. It’s hard because not all of our families are in the same condition as before.”

Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and have since taken control of the eastern parts of the country, including Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia also annexed Crimea, in Ukraine’s south, in 2014.

Although the fight has gone on for so many years already, Krykavska said helping her home country — and where her family and friends live — is vital.

She said Christmas has always been a sacred tradition for Ukrainians, highlighted by a large meal, going carolling and being together with family.

Since she moved to Canada 17 years ago, celebrating the holiday has been different, being halfway around the world from her family.

“Now because of the war … most of our family members and friends are not at the Christmas table — they are in occupied lands, or they are under the attacks, sitting in the bunkers, or on a battlefield. They cannot celebrate Christmas with us. They cannot have the cheer of this beautiful holiday,” Krykavska said.

Krykavska has lost people during the fighting. For the rest, she worries about them every day.

“Our minds are in Ukraine, as well as our hearts.”

The money being collected by Tryzub is going to Ukrainian forces for equipment, including radio jammers and Starlink systems, said fellow volunteer Vartan Davtian.

Jammers are essential to the fight, as they stop Russian kamikaze drones from communicating, rendering them useless.

Davtian had been working in the oilfield in Manitoba when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. When that happened, he decided to go back to help. He started working as a civilian doing supply runs, travelling around Europe to gather equipment like vehicles and scopes, which were often very difficult to find.

He said he went back to help Ukraine for a few months because he needed to see what was happening, since all of his friends and family are in Ukraine and he “didn’t see any other way” to do things.

“Culture and traditions and language keep your roots. But when people lose their roots, they don’t really have foundation to fight for,” Davtian said.

Fighting to keep Ukrainian traditions and ways of life is crucial to the country, he said.

“When you forget your roots, you forget your culture, you forget your language, you become a very easy target for manipulators.”

When people have lost their roots, taking over them is easy, he said.

Recently, one of his friends from the Roblin area, Drew Luhowy, went back to serve on the front lines.

Raising money now is important because family and friends like Luhowy are fighting for their homes, land, language and culture.

Not helping friends back home isn’t an option, Davtian said.

Davtian said any donations are important to help Ukrainian forces, no matter how much people can give.

Back in Brandon, 17-year-old Khrystyna Khomenko said Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in Ukraine and for Ukrainians. Celebrating it is important for her family and for everyone, she said.

“Now with the war, I think it would only like degrade us if we didn’t celebrate it. The fact that we keep on doing it shows our strengths, shows our community, shows that we can push through so much more,” Khomenko said.

“During this time, it’s important for us to continue to do all these things that we used to do before, but 10 times more.”

The celebrations her family does are a scaled-down version of what things were like before she moved to Canada 16 years ago.

In her small village, “doing that is essential — you must carol,” she said. “You have to raise money for church, because church is like the only thing we have in our village.”

What used to include going to church in the very early morning followed by carolling around the town, has now turned into a smaller version of the same thing. The family has a brightly-lit red and white Christmas tree in their home, and they still carol in the community.

Khomenko and her family moved to Canada from the Ternopil area in southwestern Ukraine. That city has been under bombardment from Russian forces in recent months, and 26 people died there in November in one high-rise strike.

Her mom, Nadiia, said the first news she got from her sister after the first attacks on the city was very difficult to hear.

“I can’t explain what I feel. It’s so, so bad and so, so sad, and sometimes we cry at work and at home,” she said while tearing up.

Nadiia said she can’t understand how a war like this is happening in the 21st century.

She hopes Ukraine wins the war and continues to have full independence from Russia, and also for agreements to be ratified so that Russia doesn’t attack its neighbour for a third time and also doesn’t attack the rest of Europe.

“Russia is coming to kill us for what? For our language, our tradition, our love for our country? We don’t understand,” Nadiia said.

She said she is “100 per cent” hopeful things will work out for Ukraine.

“Ukraine is strong and we never give up.”

Anton Gontar, 35, came to Brandon to study at Brandon University more than a decade ago. His plans to visit home with his children in 2020 were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then again in 2021 when Russian forces started setting up on the border with Ukraine.

Now, he plans to wait until the war ends to visit his home country.

He wants to go back because his kids want to see where his parents are from, and because he has friends and relatives in the country, Gontar said.

He said he’s pleaded with his grandmother many times for her to move to Canada, but she has refused because of the friends she would be leaving behind.

Gontar said his grandmother recently saw a Russian drone — about the size of a kitchen table — outside her apartment. Knowing she’s in that position makes him feel helpless, he said.

For his family, Christmas is also a smaller version of what it would have been back in Ukraine.

Krykavska said she’s proud of her friends and family in Ukraine and on the front lines, who are not only fighting for the country, but for the entire world.

“Ukraine is not for sale, and it never will be. There should be no debates when it comes to people’s lives,” Krykavska said.

“We really hope for this to be resolved as soon as possible, because half of the Ukrainian land is pretty much destroyed.”

Krykavska said she and the Ukrainian community are incredibly thankful for the support of Canadians.

» alambert@brandonsun.com