{"id":493193,"date":"2026-02-23T02:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/493193\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T02:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:20:11","slug":"downtown-toronto-rally-marks-4th-anniversary-of-russias-invasion-of-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/493193\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Toronto rally marks 4th anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of people filled Nathan Philipps Square on Sunday afternoon for a rally in advance of the fourth anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Among them was Mariia Shypilova, clutching a photo of volunteer Maryna Vorontsova, who was killed in the war after joining the armed forces in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaryna was a medic. She was a mother,\u201d Shypilova told CTV News Toronto. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut what she said, she always said, \u2018I am where I must be, where I should be. This is my country and I will fight for it\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Mariia Shypilova, at Feb. 22 Ukraine rally Toronto Mariia Shypilova, of Kharkiv, Ukraine, clutches a photo of volunteer Maryna Vorontsova, who was killed in the war after joining the armed forces in 2025, during a Feb. 22 rally in downtown Toronto. <\/p>\n

Shypilova is from the heavily embattled city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Her parents are still there and her brother has been fighting for years in the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell the world and to Canada who supports us very much and we appreciate it, is that Ukraine is not going to give up. We are going to stand strong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, Ukraine was only expected to be able to hold off Russians for a few days, and still, even just overnight, the onslaught of attacks continue.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mariupol, Ukraine Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo\/Sergei Grits) <\/p>\n

\u201cI was there. I saw it, so different. It\u2019s so depressing and ya it\u2019s another world. It\u2019s really important to be here,\u201d said one person at the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the support here, Ukraine cannot survive. Ukraine relies on support from people from all over the world,\u201d added another.<\/p>\n

Many find comfort in coming together, showing strength and support for those still fighting, while remembering everyone who gave their lives.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ukraine rally Feb. 22 Toronto Hundreds gathered in downtown Toronto on Feb. 22 for a rally in advance of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fight in Ukraine is to hold off Russia, not only from Ukraine but hold them off from attacking other countries in Europe,\u201d said Marc Shwec, chair of the Stand With Ukraine committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould Ukraine fall, others will fail. It\u2019ll cost Canadians a lot more later on if we don\u2019t stop Russia right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Marc Shwec, chair Stand With Ukraine Committee, Feb. 22 rally Marc Shwec, the chair of the Stand With Ukraine Committee, speaks to CTV News Toronto at a Feb. 22 rally for Ukraine in downtown Toronto. <\/p>\n

Messages of ongoing support were also shared from all levels of government at today\u2019s demonstration.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince this war began we have donated 17 vehicles and eight generators to our sister city, Kyiv. We had done it before and we will keep doing it for as long as it takes,\u201d said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.<\/p>\n

Ontario Premier Doug Ford noted that here are 350,000 Ukrainians from Ukraine and of Ukrainian descent in Ontario. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve welcomed over 150,000 Ukrainian refugees and I welcome more. As many as we can take we will welcome with open arms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Federal Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party supports Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cConservatives called on the government which agreed to hand over 40,000 CRV seven missiles, which the Ukrainian military has now put into use fighting against Putin. We supported the financial support and the crippling sanctions that need to go even further,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rally for Ukraine Feb. 22 Toronto A rally in support of Ukraine was held in downtown Toronto on Feb. 22. <\/p>\n

The official anniversary of the full-scale invasion is Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Rallies like the one that took place today in downtown Toronto happened in cities across the country on Sunday, as well as candlelight vigils to mark four years since the invasion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of people filled Nathan Philipps Square on Sunday afternoon for a rally in advance of the fourth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-493193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}