Canadian man with ties to Ukraine fears for friends now living in bomb shelters

It’s been six straight days of non-stop Russian shelling and missile attacks on Ukraine’s major cities, with Russia striking Independence square in the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, on Tuesday.

In the capital Kyiv, five people were killed as a Russian missile struck a TV tower in the city.

For Winnipegger Markian Duplak, who has many friends in Ukraine, it’s been a horrible time.

“It’s absolutely disgusting to see what’s going on,” he said.

Duplak was born and raised in Winnipeg and took up Ukrainian dancing in both Winnipeg and Saskatoon before getting an opportunity of a lifetime.

In 2017, he left for Ukraine and began dancing with the world-renowned Ukrainian dance group Virsky in Kyiv, a city with a lot of history.

“It’s got the old architecture, the old European architecture,” said Duplak. “It’s a gorgeous city. Tons of popular landmarks. It was a very happening city.”

But continuously watching from afar, seeing the constant shelling and destruction of the city he once called home, has been heartbreaking.

“It’s tough to watch,” he said. “There were multiple times where I just burst out into tears. It’s tough to see. Ukraine is fighting for Europe. Ukraine is fighting for the world.”

Duplak says it’s been hard to concentrate on his daily life and has not been getting much sleep since the war started last week.

He says he’s worried for his friends who are now stuck in bomb shelters with their families with the possibility of taking up arms and fighting.

“I’ve been just in contact with friends consistently every single day, wee hours of the night, early in the morning, just kind of trying to get a hold of them, see what’s up, how they are doing.

“I’ve had to reach out to friends and send partial goodbye messages, unofficial ones, and again, I never thought I would have to do something like that but that is the grim reality that they are all dealing with now.”

Duplak and a few of his friends are putting together military aid packages for those on the front lines and are also raising funds to get food and water to families living in bomb shelters across the country.

“The grocery stores, the shelves are empty, the supply chains are not coming in, nothing is getting into Kyiv and they need our help.”