Standing defiantly on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto, a man burned his Russian passport in front of the Russian consulate.
“I was born in Ukraine, I grew up in Russia. I’m done with Russia, done with Russia,” he said before making a hand wiping motion and walking away.
More than 1,000 supporters of Ukraine closed a section of Midtown Toronto today. Eleven days into the Russian invasion, they’re asking for intervention.
One woman holding a “stop war” sign said, “Please help us. Listen to us, please we need your help, please.”
Others, like Julita Chana, were showing support in an attempt to help, while feeling somewhat helpless.
“It feels like you’re part of the bigger fight that you can’t fight back home,” she told CTV News Toronto.
Her friend, Julita Borko said, “I want the war to stop and I want people to be able to go back to their homes, and school, and work, and for kids to stop dying.”
Ukrainian Canadian Congress National President Alexandra Chyczij was in attendance. She said she thinks, “Putin intends on world war” and that the west needs to put in place a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Stand With Ukraine Committee Chair Marc Shwek asked what it will take before the west steps in.
“Is it a 100,000 thousand dead civilians? Is it 10,000 children dying, bleeding in their mother’s arms? Is it firing squads in the streets?”
Shwek said the will to fight is there, but that Ukrainians need more tools.
Beyond asking for a no-fly zone in Ukraine, there was a focus on cash donations to support the Ukrainian army.
There were collectors walking through the crowd collecting cash donations.
Sofiia Rusyn set up a small table to sell merchandise.
“My whole life is in Ukraine,” said the Humber College student.
On her table are small flags, t-shirts and ribbons that were made in order to generate cash for Ukraine.
“We were just making them in churches or people were making them in their homes,” she said. “Then we bring it all here and then we sell it to people. To give all the profit from that to the army.”
They say many of the goods donated are filling up warehouses, but cash can move faster.
