\u2018Not only Ukraine\u2019s fight\u2019: Kelowna gathers as Canada pledges support<\/p>\n
Published 11:10 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026<\/p>\n
Those in support of Ukrainian freedom gathered at Stuart Park to commemorate four years of the ongoing war with Russia.<\/p>\n
Supporters flocked to the park, lighting candles and flying the Ukrainian flag in solidarity on Tuesday, Feb. 24 as the Eastern European country faces its fourth year of defence against an invasion by Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe light candles because light is a promise. A promise to remember those we have lost, to support those still fighting, to keep telling the truth and to keep showing up until Ukraine is free,\u201d said Denys Storozhuk, president of Kelowna Stands with Ukraine, the group who organized the vigil.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope, all of our hope, is that one day we will gather here not in another anniversary of invasion, but to celebrate victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia first invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, starting a war that has mounted casualty numbers estimated<\/a> to be as high as 1.8 million people between Russia and Ukraine, according to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n \u201cUkraine is fighting every single day for their right to exist, for the right to choose its future, for the right to live without fear,\u201d Storozhuk said during a speech during the Stuart Park vigil.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Ukraine\u2019s fight, but it\u2019s not only Ukraine\u2019s fight. Because what\u2019s happening in Ukraine is also a test to the world we want our children to have, a world where borders cannot be changed by force, where civilians are protected and democracy is defended not just with words but with action.\u201d<\/p>\n On the anniversary, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $2 billion more to Ukraine in military aid as well as further sanctions against Russia which includes targeting a \u201cshadow fleet\u201d of Russian vessels that attempt to evade sanctions placed on the country.<\/p>\n The prime minister said told reporters on Feb. 24 that Canada is \u201cin it for the long haul\u201d with the country\u2019s support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Storozhuk is calling for a permanent residency path for Ukrainians who came to Canada through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. The Canadian government states that nearly 300,000 Ukrainians have come to Canada through the program between March 2022 and April 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these families are living in constant uncertainty. They\u2019re here on temporary status, depending on bureaucracy on whether (their) permits get extended or not,\u201d Storozhuk said, adding that Kelowna Stands with Ukraine is petitioning<\/a> the federal government for a pathway from the CUAET program to permanent residency for stability for those people and more opportunities for higher education for their youth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Not only Ukraine\u2019s fight\u2019: Kelowna gathers as Canada pledges support Published 11:10 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026 Those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-500886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500886","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=500886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}