Sat., February 26, 2022
Dniel Slavatynskyy, a Grade 8 student at St. Demetrius Catholic School in Etobicoke, Ont., and his mother Luba Slavatynska. (Dalia Ashry/CBC - image credit)
The principal of a school in Etobicoke, Ont., — where more than 90 per cent of students are of Ukrainian origin — says teachers there are equipped to provide emotional support to the kids, as Russian forces continue their assault on Ukraine.
Lily Hordienko says children at the St. Demetrius Catholic School are between four to 14 years old.
"Our children are very aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now," Hordienko told CBC News.
"Many of [the students] are coming with a lot of questions, fears, anxieties, so we wanted to be here ready for them."
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a special military operation on Ukraine before dawn on Thursday, ignoring Western warnings and saying the "neo-Nazis" ruling Ukraine threatened Russia's security.
According to Hordienko, half of the staff members also have family members in Ukraine, so they are turning to each other for support.
"It's very disheartening. It's a very emotional time," she said. "We're turning to one another."
Dalia Ashry/CBC
Canadians continue to show support for Ukraine and its fierce and urgent battle against a Russian invasion that has tossed life there into sudden chaos.
Saturday marked the third day of Russia's wide-ranging invasion of Ukraine — a move that has prompted condemnation by many world leaders and triggered a raft of sanctions.
'Words of encouragement and support'
Hordienko said the school's staff held a staff meeting on Thursday morning, the day Russia initiated attacks on Ukraine.
"We had some prayers, a little bit of words of encouragement and support," she said.
Hordienko said she also talked with the teachers about what to look for with the students.
Dniel Slavatynskyy, a Grade 8 student at the school says he feels hurt when he sees what's happening in Ukraine.
Slavatynskyy's family returned to Ukraine shortly after his birth in Canada. The family moved back to Canada when he was four years old.
"Ukraine is my home country, it's like part of my family, we talk about it every day," he told CBC News.
"We talk Ukrainian every day in our home, we talk Ukrainian at school, it's like [we're in] Ukraine but in a different country, you know.
"I feel bad. I see, like, people live streaming the sirens … people afraid because there are sirens everywhere. I feel bad, I feel kind of scared, you know," Slavatynskyy added.
Dalia Ashry/CBC
TCDSB will provide whatever is needed
Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Markus de Domenico says Ukrainian families are going through "tremendous distress" right now.
He said that as soon as the assault started, he reached out to the principals and staff in his ward to let them know that the board is there to support the emotional and mental health of the students and staff.
"It's almost unimaginable to think of what they must be feeling with their friends and family back home in Ukraine and the Russian aggression against the civilian population in many cases," de Domenico told CBC News.
"The board is very willing to provide any guidance, counselling, whatever is needed."
Russia's assault is the biggest on a European state since the Second World War and threatens to upend the continent's post-Cold War order.
The crisis has galvanized the NATO military alliance, which has announced a series of moves to reinforce its eastern flank. While NATO has said it will not deploy troops to Ukraine, a string of member countries are sending military aid.
Two weeks before the assault commenced, Hordienko said St. Demetrius Catholic School organized a day in support of Ukraine.
"Students came dressed in blue and yellow and we took pictures and we made a poster and we sent it to the Ukraine-Canadian Congress and we tweeted it, we shared it with the Ukrainian citizens as well," she said.
Hordienko said members of the Ukrainian community in Canada "feel helpless," but "we're trying to do what we can, we're sending prayers, we're sending what we can but it's more difficult to not be able to do anything more than that."
"I'm getting strength from Ukraine, I'm getting strength from the citizens of Ukraine as they are unbelievably determined, unbelievably driven to fight this fight and to take it to the end," Hordienko said.
Saskatchewan
Members of Regina language school worry about families in Ukraine
'I feel really sad because of the war,' says student of Ukrainian language school
It was a tough decision for the organizers of the Ridna Shkola Ukrainian Saturday School to open the doors yesterday and run their classes.
Many students of the heritage language school are children of newcomer families from Ukraine who have been settling in Regina within the last ten years, according to Olena Shyian, president of the Regina branch of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada — the organization operating Ridna Shkola.
"A lot of families are affected [by the war]," she said.
"But then we were thinking that these kids need to get out of their houses.… They need to be gathered together here and they need to talk to each other."
While some of the students were working on arts and crafts activities on Saturday, they had the opportunity to shareabout what was happening with their families in Ukraine.
Student scared for her family
Standing between the Canadian and Ukrainian flags, the students aged three to 12, as well as their teachers and parents, sang the national anthem of Ukraine, paying tribute to those in the war zone.
Some of the children present on Saturday said they are worried about their family members who live in Ukraine.
One of them is Ivanna Shyian, who was born in Canada, but whose grandparents and cousins are still in Ukraine.
"I am scared for my family," she said. "They're all hiding, waiting for, like, the smallest thing to happen."
Ivanna Shyian is also concerned about all the children living in Ukraine, especially those in orphanages.
Fellow Ridna Shkola student Edgar Okhrymenko also wants the war to end.
"I feel really sad because of the war," he said. "I don't want the people to be killed."
Okhrymenko asks everyone around the world to pray for the people in Ukraine.
Ukraine needs help: Regina father
Petro Nakutnyyn is a father involved in the Ridna Shkola in Regina.
He is concerned for the safety of his parents, other family members and friends who live in Ukraine.
"They are safe at the moment, but the fighting is 80 kilometres from my hometown," he said.
"I have a group chat with my [former] classmates, and they're in bunkers. It's very sad. It's not something we ever, ever imagined, you know, going to school."
Like Olena Shyian, Nakutnyyn believes in the importance of talking about the situation with his children.
"It's very important that we keep that memory," he said. "That [our kids] know what's happening," he said.
The Regina father hopes the world can step up more to support his home country.
"We do need help," he said. "Ukraine has been, for the most part, left alone to fight."
Advice for school counselors
Olena Shyian hopes schools and their counselors will look out for students who are affected by the Russian invasion, for example because they have families in Ukraine.
She says like children from other countries that are affected by war, Ukrainian kids in Canada now also need support.
"Just talk to them, just hear them, just give them an opportunity to discuss what's happening," she said.
With her own pain over the crisis, Olena Shyian herself is struggling.
"I don't know how I can go back to work on Monday," she said.
"All I'm doing is checking [the] news and staying connected with my family. My mind is not at work and my mind is not there right now."
With files from Radio-Canada
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