'Thanks to Irish people we can now feel safe': Ukrainians and supporters rally in Ireland
Nine-year-old Milana Nanna who now lives in Newbridge at the Dublin rally to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Picture: Sam Boal/Rolling News
Thousands of people marched through cities across the country today in solidarity with Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia’s illegal and bloody invasion.
People draped in Ukrainian flags sang songs as they marched, holding children with blue and yellow painted faces, a deep sense of national solidarity and defiance already seeping into and forming young minds.
“Thank you,” Svetlana Bondar from central Ukraine said:
Journalist and TV executive Liudmyla Bortok from Kiev said: “I owe Ireland the salvation of my family,”
She said that Cork men John and Rory Dennehy had helped some 70 families escape the war-torn country and find homes in Ireland, including Ms Bortok, her son, her 86-year-old grandfather, and her 13-year-old cat.
“We are safe because of their help. They reached out to help at a very hard time, they brought us here and made sure we were safe. This is a very precious moment; I will never forget it.
“The reason my family are safe is particularly because of Rory and John.”
She is now living in a summer house in Kinsale and her landlords have become her “second parents".
But she warned that the rockets and bombs that forced her out of her home are not the only weapons being used in this war. Propaganda has also become a deadly weapon with lies pushed by Putin being used to manipulate his own people into becoming cannon fodder in his ego-driven war.
Nadia Dobrianska left her home in Kiev on February 24 last year. She has since learned Irish and will be the subject of a TG4 documentary about her journey.
She said that today’s solidarity march is a reminder to the world that Ukraine is still fighting.
"And we will keep fighting as long as it takes to be free,” she said.
“We had to flee on the first day of the invasion, not to stay under the bombs.” She appealed to the international community to continue to support Ukraine with arms so that they can “take back what is ours”.
“A lot has been done but we are still denied the fighter jets and long range missiles and there is still a shortage of tanks and ammunition and rounds for artillery. That is what we need to liberate all the occupied territories.
“All the people there are waiting. People are trapped in horrible conditions with not enough medication and Russians are prosecuting them and kidnapping their children and having their identities wiped out. Children from Mariupol have been taken to Russia.
“If I could I would take Putin to the Hague and have him tried for everything he has done.” Some spoke with hope of returning home, others said they cried last night in despair as they spoke to friends and family still trapped back home.
A family from Mariupol said that they remembered living under siege, with no phone coverage, no internet and no heating through the bitter cold.
Margo Prylypska from Kharkiv worked with Apple in Ukraine so transferred to Warsaw when evacuated and then to Cork three weeks ago.
Her baby Eva was just days old when she left her home on February 24 last year after the bombing started.
Her friend Sofia Cheznomozehenko said that people from Kharkiv find it hard to talk about the war and its impact becasue their city is destroyed and people have lost loved ones in the conflict.
Sofia, 25, is from Dnipro and has had many school friends who have died on the frontline fighting Russia, the "terrorist State."
But despite the devastation to her homeland she said that she and all the Ukrainians she knows here want to move home and rebuild their country when the fighting stops.
She said that the war has created a deep resolve and sense of national identity and pride that many people had not felt so deeply before.
"The war has changed our mindsets. We are so grateful to be in Ireland, to be able to work and pay taxes here, but when the war ends I 100% want to return to Ukraine."
Polina Movshan said that she woke up this day last year to a red sky over Kyiv as Russian rockets attacked her city.
Pregnant at the time, she left the next day and had a baby daughter safely in CUMH last year.
“I am so thankful to the Irish people. We are somewhere peaceful now. We are safe,” she said.
As roads were painted in the colour of the Ukrainian flag outside the Russian embassy in London and France turned the Eiffel Tower yellow and blue, solidarity rallies were also held in Cork, Kerry, Dublin, Meath, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Longford, Limerick, Waterford, Wicklow, Wexford, to show solidarity with Ukraine.
Up to 5,000 people attended a rally outside the GPO on O’Connell Street in Dublin on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
Refugees from the war-torn country who are now living in Ireland were joined by supporters from across Ireland.
The rally which was organised by a group known as Ukrainian Action and two of the main speakers at the event included Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald.
Supporters carried flags and banners saying, “Save Ukraine” and “We will win this war” as the crowd chanted “Free Ukraine”.
Speaking to the , Sofia Danyleiko 25 said she came to Ireland in November 2021 from central Ukraine.
She said “I am here with my boyfriend and my mother and small brother. We lived in Poland for six years, but we are here now. The people of Ireland are unbelievable. I wasn’t at home for a long time, so I find it so hard to take it in.
“I have my grandma, who is 84 years, and she is in Ukraine she is with my father she is afraid to come so far from her house, she is old. It’s too hard for her. Also, almost all my family are in Ukraine, my aunts, my cousins.
“Some of my family is in [Ukraine]. It is hard for me to know part of my relatives are there in a territory that was occupied for a long time.
“Also, one issue is, it has left me not well in my psychological health. I didn’t visit Ukraine for fear of what it would do to my mental health. But the support here is so big, it’s unreal.
“My mother is here, she has cancer and I’m happy she is here to attend the doctor, but she is living in a hotel, I am happy though as she has the chance for treatment”.
Sophia’s boyfriend Arseni Olishao, 30 is from the north of Ukraine and his mother is in Ireland since the war began.
He said “I’m very sad for my family home. My family were ready for this occupation, we knew this occupation was coming. My parents were ready for it, we understand that this was going to happen.
Elena Hutvert 20 is from Kyiv where she said there is both “defiance and despair” among her people on the first anniversary of the invasion.
She said “I came here last March, and I am so sad, it is awful what has happened. I don’t wish this on anyone. My family are in Ukraine and Poland.
“I am safe here, but I am so grateful to the Irish people and for their support”.
Olga Dernovska 40, is from Odessa in Ukraine she said “I feel so lucky in one way, but to be here there are no words to describe this, you can’t imagine it. That this can happen in the 21st century in the middle of Europe.
“It is very traumatising, this day last year, when everyone saw the news, they didn’t know how to breathe, what to do, the same day or the next day. It is still the same, nobody is making plans longer than a couple of weeks.
“We are still waking up to a horrible situation and to see how our life has changed so much. I came to Ireland with my husband. I am in the privileged position from this point of view, but it also not helpful when your family is there.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said Ireland is “not politically or morally neutral in the face of war crimes” at an event to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to crowds who gathered at Dublin's GPO, Mr Martin described Russia as a “rogue state” that has carried out “illegal and immoral actions” over the past 12 months.
While he said Ireland is "militarily neutral" he stressed that "we are not politically or morally neutral in the face of violations of international law and war crimes. Quite the opposite."
The Fianna Fáil leader added: “Our position is informed by the principles that drive our foreign policy – support for international human rights, for humanitarian law and for a rules-based international order.
“We are not neutral when Russia disregards all of these principles. No, we stand with Ukraine," Mr Martin said.
Ukrainian ambassador Larysa Gerasko also attended the demonstration along with many political leaders.
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