Nearly one year ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked up to a podium in Ottawa, flanked by three of his top ministers, and declared the world had changed overnight.
B次元官网网址淭his morning, Ukrainians woke up to the brutal, terrifying reality of war,B次元官网网址� Trudeau said on Feb. 24, 2022, after missiles and airstrikes rained down on the country in the early morning as Russian tanks rolled toward the capital of Kyiv.
B次元官网网址淩ussian violence, aggression and violation of international law will not go unpunished,B次元官网网址� he said, the vast room heavy with silence.
Since then, the invasion has destabilized families, economies and the world order. Nearly a year later, minds are turning toward rebuilding what has been lost and finally claiming a sense of justice.
B次元官网网址淭he horrors of the genocide and the war crimes that have happened, itB次元官网网址檚 not forgivable,B次元官网网址� said Ihor Michalchyshyn, the executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, in an interview in Ottawa.
No one knows exactly how the war will end, or when, but Michalchyshyn said Russia must be held accountable.
B次元官网网址淚 think that would be a nightmare scenario, where the war ends, justice fails. But I donB次元官网网址檛 think it will,B次元官网网址� he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister M茅lanie Joly made a show of solidarity last week with a two-day visit to Ukraine ahead of the anniversary to talk about what that accountability will look like.
She spoke to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about B次元官网网址渁ddressing the issue of crimes against humanity, war crimes, the crime of aggression, and also sexual violence related crimes,B次元官网网址� Joly said at a virtual press conference from Krakow, Poland on Thursday.
UkraineB次元官网网址檚 general prosecutor Andriy Kostin told Joly the country has already identified 60,000 crimes linked to the war.
The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have already been tasked with investigating and prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity purported by Russian forces, but the crime of aggression falls outside of their respective mandates.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e joined the core group of countries that believe that there should be a special tribunal on the crime of aggression,B次元官网网址� Joly said.
The United Kingdom is also part of that group of countries.
In the meantime, Ukrainians within and outside the country continue to live with the consequences of the war.
B次元官网网址淓ver since it started, it seems to be like a nightmare,B次元官网网址� said Halyna Dmytryshyn, sitting at the kitchen table in the small apartment she shares with her son and stepson in Ottawa.
For months after the invasion she stayed in her home community, just outside of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine. Finally, she decided conditions were getting worse for her child and she left.
B次元官网网址淚 want the war to be finished as soon as possible, but I know itB次元官网网址檚 just impossible B次元官网网址� and the worst thing is that everybody is getting used to it, and the world as well.B次元官网网址�
Even in Lviv, a relatively safe region in the west of Ukraine near the Polish border, air-raid sirens sound several times a day as a reminder of the constant danger faced by civilians. Many people pay the warnings no mind, no longer willing to run for cover in basements every time they go off.
Since the initial invasion, Ukraine pushed the Russian military out of the capital and forced the invaders to abandon territory in the northeast. The Ukrainians also regained some captured communities in the southeast of the country.
Still, the war took a heavy toll on the people of the country this winter as fierce fighting continued along the Russian border and Russia appeared to focus airstrikes on energy infrastructure, leaving Ukrainians without power or heat in the dead of winter.
Western allies, initially apprehensive about escalating the conflict by offering Ukraine weapons that could incite Russian President Vladimir Putin, have sent increasingly advanced and lethal weaponry to aid Ukraine in its defence.
In a recent bid to head off a spring offensive, Canada joined other allied countries in donating modern battle tanks to UkraineB次元官网网址檚 arsenal.
B次元官网网址淭he boundaries on what counts as a weapon that can be provided to Ukraine has steadily changed,B次元官网网址� said Roland Paris, international affairs professor at the University of Ottawa and TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 former senior foreign policy adviser.
In the last year, Canada has dedicated more than $5 billion to supporting Ukraine, including more than over $1.2 billion in military assistance.
While no one can be sure how the conflict will end, Paris said the most convincing assessments suggest it will continue for a long time.
He said it could become a B次元官网网址渇rozen conflict, where you have ongoing hostilities at varying different levels of intensity with maybe periods of lulls and even ceasefires.B次元官网网址�
ThatB次元官网网址檚 a possibility that weighs on MichalchyshynB次元官网网址檚 mind, but he said his fear about that scenario is muted by talk of international justice, criminal tribunals, and accountability.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 what kind of gets us through,B次元官网网址� he said.
No matter what comes of those trials, Dmytryshyn said in some ways, the nightmare Ukrainians have shared will never truly be over.
B次元官网网址淚 always pray for the finishing of war, but itB次元官网网址檚 not an issue because it will never leave us,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e changed. We changed a lot and nobody will be the same.B次元官网网址�
Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
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