People in northern Ontario with ties to Ukraine keep a close eye on border tensions
People in northern Ontario with ties to Ukraine are keeping an anxious eye on border tensions with Russia, and are hoping things can be resolved peacefully.
Sonia Peczeniuk is secretary for the Ukrainian National Federation in Sudbury. Both her mother and father were born in Ukraine.
Peczeniuk said she is disappointed the situation has escalated to this point. Russia has amassed a huge number of soldiers and equipment near its border with Ukraine, as western countries warn of consequences should an invasion take place.
While the world is paying close attention now, Peczeniuk said problems have been brewing for a long time.
"This is a situation that has been place since 2014 -- that’s eight years," she said.
"Since that time, there have been 13,000 people killed, 30,000 wounded and 1.5 million people internally displaced … During all of this time, there has been ongoing conversations between the United States and the NATO powers, etc., trying to get a resolution."
Peczeniuk said she has roughly 30 family members still in Ukraine and said what she has heard is that citizens in the area are starting to arm themselves.
"So if they can, they are buying guns, ammunition, but in the villages in particular they are not well off and they’re going to use pitchforks or whatever they have to defend themselves," she said.
Orest Lawryniw from Timmins also has family and friends in Ukraine. He said they are telling him people are not overly concerned about a Russian invasion at this time, but are preparing themselves anyway.
"They are hoping it’s going to be resolved and they don’t seem to feel like it’s going to be a conflict that will happen -- they are hoping it won’t happen," said Lawryniw.
“I think with the world reacting the way they are and basically standing up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and saying, 'if you do this, we’re going to put sanctions on you and take some action.' Hopefully, he will back down because he has a huge alliance of people that are up against him right now."
Both Peczeniuk and Lawryniw are hoping it can all be resolved before any serious conflict takes place.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.