Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo’s Ukrainian community is calling on the world to take action after a deadly bombing this week in Kyiv. On Monday, missiles rained down on a children’s hospital in the capital city of Ukraine, killing nearly 50 civilians and wounding hundreds.
Devon Sereda Goldie, spokesperson for the group, says the community needed to come together to mourn.
“It’s just devastating; the loss and the horror, and the cruelty of children and civilians being attacked,” said Sereda Goldie. “Russia is a terrorist state that needs to be held accountable for their war crimes.”
Nearly 100 people attended the rally, many holding signs calling on the United Nations and NATO to close the skies over Ukraine to prevent further atrocities.
Sereda Goldie says the attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv has had a devastating effect on the Ukrainian diaspora in the region.
“If all we can do is come together and stand in solidarity, then that’s what we will do,” said Sereda Goldie.
Since the attack on Okhmatdyt, Ukraine flags have been lowered to half-mast as the war-torn nation declared a National Day of Mourning.
Earlier today, before heading to a meeting of NATO leaders in Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, condemning the attack and expressing condolences on behalf of Canadians.
“This is abhorrent,” Trudeau said in a statement after he arrived in the U.S. capital Monday morning. “Striking a children’s hospital – and the innocent children inside – cannot be justified.”
Sereda Goldie worries that the world will soon forget what happened to the Okhmatdyt Hospital.
“Every time there’s a big horrific act of violence like this, suddenly the world starts paying attention again, but it doesn’t take very long for people to move on.”
