Sudbury police investigate hateful act against Ukrainian church

Members of St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Greater Sudbury say they will not be intimidated after finding the letter 'Z' spray-painted on their building over the weekend.

The letter 'Z' has become synonymous with support for the Russian army and the bloody invasion of Ukraine.

Vandals targeted two plaques on the side of the building, one commemorating Ukrainian Christianity and the other the Ukrainian community in Sudbury. A brick pillar was also tagged.

"It was unbelievable what I saw," said Fr. Peter Bodnar.

"The image of the letter Z, when you see footage from Ukraine, it's painted on the Russian tanks and military vehicles and it brings you the image of an aggressor coming to your house, coming to your town."

Bodnar said it's particularly painful because many parishioners that make up his congregation have family in Ukraine.

"This is a journey, a very painful journey," he said. "This week is Passion Week, so for us, the Ukrainians, lots of people have been talking but there's been no end to the war, and lots of people have been crucified and seeing these symbols of Z in Ontario ... it is devastating."

Parishioner Halia Buba said she was shocked and hurt to see someone target the plaques with something that has such meaning.

"I'm sad and I'm very angry because this is a despicable act of hate," Buba said.

"I don't know what motivated the individual -- I have no idea -- but this shouldn't be tolerated. It has to be investigated and if the perpetrator thought this was going to silence us, it's going to give us more impetus."

She's one of many in the community that has been spearheading rallies and fundraising efforts for the war in Ukraine.

Thousands have been raised from the community and there have been weekly rallies outside the church and near the Four Corners.

"This is not to be tolerated, I think he's a coward," Buba said.

Members of St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Greater Sudbury say they will not be intimidated after finding the letter 'Z' spray-painted on their building over the weekend. (Photos courtesy of Fr. Peter Bodnar)

"If it's one person or many, I hope this is the only time that happens and never, never again. I don't know why these two plaques were chosen. Obviously, someone knew what the horrible symbolism the Z is."

The Greater Sudbury Police Service said it's investigating an act of "hate/bias" against the church and is asking for anyone who might have seen a suspicious person or vehicle to come forward.

It's believed the incident happened sometime between Friday night at 7:30 and sometime Saturday morning. The building does have CCTV footage.

The incident has also been brought to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which said it's following very closely what happens next.

It's calling on police to investigate this as a hate crime.

"The vandalism at St. Mary's is appalling and shocking to our community," said senior policy adviser Orest Zakyldalsky.

"This is a hate crime. That letter Z right now is being used by the supporters of Russia's genocidal war against Ukrainians, so I think it's both an attempt to intimidate people who support Ukraine and the fact that it was done at a church, which is a place of worship, makes it doubly offensive and appalling to Canadians."

While he's thankful it hasn't been common, Zakyldalsky said it has been known to happen and they are seeing a noticeable uptick.

They're also communicating with federal authorities to continue to ensure people remain safe in the wake of the incident.

St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church is the oldest church/congregation of its kind in the province.

Upon hearing of the incident, Sudbury Memorial Works reached out to the church and volunteered to help clean and repair the damage to its memorial.