Local woman sees strife in Ukraine firsthand
Krystina Waler knows well the human cost of the political storms in Ukraine.
The St. Catharines woman has been in the troubled nation off-and-on for months, including a trip last week with Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
She was in Kyiv during the November riots involving state security forces and students. A friend of hers, a 29-year-old man, who worked with her in a camp for orphans, was killed in Independence Square. He was unarmed, she said, helping rebuild barricades that separated student protesters from state police.
So she knows well what the consequences could be if tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate.
“Of course, I am very worried. I have friends and family in Ukraine who joined the army reserves (after Russia moved into the Crimea),” said Waler, now a university student in Toronto. “I want to go back, but I have to decide where I can do the good, here or there. Right now, I think I might be of most use here, working with John Baird.”
Waler is of Ukrainian descent. She was active for years in Niagara’s Ukrainian community.
Her passion for the culture, the people and the language led her to travel to the country where she worked with orphans.
Waler’s recent trips made her an eye witness to history. Ukrainian citizens, including students, outraged by their president’s refusal to build stronger economic ties with the European Union, apparently at Moscow’s behest, took to the streets.
“I was in Independence Square the first night of the violence,” Waler said.
The protests did not begin violently. Waler and some friends stayed late into the night, but eventually decided to go home. All was quiet.
“Then I got a call from a friend who said (the police) had cleared the square,” Waler said. “I said ‘How is that possible. We just left there.'”
The internal political strife resulted in a regime change and the president fled to Russia. Waler said the people of Ukraine were shaken but feeling hopeful they could proceed without undo Russian interference.
“But people were saying ‘Just wait until the Olympics are over, Putin will make his move on Ukraine,'” she said.
By Feb. 28, Russian troops were blocking a Ukrainian military airport. Putin gets permission from the Russian parliament to use military force to protect ethnic Russians in Ukrainian and his troops mobilize near the border in Crimea.
“I was in Independance Square and a woman held up a sign, written in Russian, that said ‘Putin, I am Russian and I don’t need your help’,” Waler said.
Waler was still in Ukraine when the Russian troops made their move. She was in Kyiv with Baird, who was there to voice Canada’s support for the newly installed Ukrainian government. She returned to Canada Monday.
“It was an important statement that Canada made by sending Baird there,” Waler said.
Although far from the heart of the crisis in Crimea, Waler said the frustration and fear of Ukrainians was palpable.
Still, the support the Western powers, including Canada, the United States and the EU, have buoyed Ukraine, she said.
Waler said the west needs to keep the pressure on Moscow, making it clear that any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty is unacceptable. She believes the strong language from western leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is giving the Russians pause.