Ukrainian community calls for Russia to withdraw from Heritage festival

A gaggle representing Edmonton’s Ukrainian group is asking for the Russian Heritage Cultural Improvement Affiliation to withdraw from this 12 months’s heritage pageant. 

On Wednesday the Ukrainian Congress Canada in Edmonton despatched an open letter to the Russian Heritage Cultural Improvement Affiliation and Edmonton Heritage Competition Affiliation condemning the participation of the Russian affiliation within the annual pageant given the continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“It could be the suitable, ethical and accountable factor for the promoters of the Russian pavilion to voluntarily withdraw from this 12 months’s heritage pageant and from all festivals happening in Edmonton at some stage in Russia’s conflict out of respect for the Ukrainians being subjected to occupation, oppression — together with systematic torture, incarceration and sexual violence and the sensitivities of these whose households and mates are struggling the consequences of the conflict,” the open letter states.

The UCC continued in its letter saying the conflict was “unprovoked, unlawful and exceedingly brutal conflict of genocidal aggression towards Ukraine.” Members of Edmonton’s Ukrainian group have expressed related emotions, including that the conflict has brought on their relations to be displaced and has brought on devastation on all fronts.

This isn’t the primary time the group has introduced up its issues over the Russian affiliation partaking within the pageant. On the finish of Could the UCC penned a letter outlining its issues saying that it was “disappointing that after little greater than a 12 months of genocide the Edmonton Heritage Competition is contemplating returning to enterprise as typical.”