Saskatchewan commemorates the victims of Holodomor

A special service was held near the Saskatchewan Legislative Building to commemorate victims and survivors of Holodomor.

The Holodomor was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932-1933 that killed around four million Ukrainians.

MLA Terry Dennis, Premier Scott Moe, Ukrainian Canadian congress officials and other members of the province’s Ukrainian community joined the service.

The service started with the Canadian and Ukrainian national anthems. A memorial candle was lit to represent unity with everyone who commemorates the Holodomor around the world.

“The Holodomor towers in the memory of the Ukrainian people and their culture, its legacy and duress, today by the virtue of the relentless courage, the resilience and humanity and it is more important now than ever before,” said Terry Dennis, legislative secretary responsible for Saskatchewan-Ukraine relations.

“We gather for this service today as the people of Ukraine are menaced yet again by the [Russian] regime of tyranny.”

Anastasiia Vasylieva came from Ukraine to Canada four months ago. She left the city Bakhmut before the arrival of Russian soldiers.

“It’s very important to remember this day and to understand that across the country, they did it to us 90 years ago and they still doing it nowadays,” Vasilieva said.

The service commemorates and remembers not only the victims of Holodomor, but thousands who have died due to Russia’s current war and those who died have defended Ukraine’s freedom.

The service ended with the flower-laying ceremony at the statue “Bitter Memories of Childhood” by sculptor Petro Drozdowsky.