As war rages on in Ukraine, an annual day to celebrate the country’s independence approaches. Ukrainian Independence Day has been celebrated annually on August 24 since 1991, the first anniversary of the Ukrainian parliament’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Since that time, both residents of Ukraine and its diaspora have marked the day as a chance to highlight their heritage and affirm their continued independence.

One such group is the Vancouver Branch for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), a collection of organizations aiming to advocate for Ukrainian people and culture.

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Elvira Mruchkovska, president of the Vancouver UCC branch, says the group took a somewhat more lighthearted, albeit still dedicated, approach to celebrating the country’s culture and heritage. But after a major shift in priorities in 2022 to bring attention to supporting Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion, the UCC is now returning to a mix of events and fundraising, balancing a cultural heritage celebration with a continued focus on advocacy to continue to support Ukraine’s independence.

“[We] would like to show and remind people… we do have independence,” says Mruchkovska. “It is important to us just to show we are here, we’re still fighting.”

An outpouring of support

When Mruchkovska first joined the UCC as a general member and volunteer, she was pursuing her studies in hospitality and tourism management in Vancouver, having just moved to B.C. a few years prior. But before her move to Canada, she had a deep background in promoting, advocating, and fighting for Ukrainian human rights and migration, playing an important, public role prior to moving to Canada.

“I spent more than 25 years in Ukraine engaged in human rights activities in the field of migration security: helping refugees, reducing the risks of labor migrant exploitation, combating human trafficking, including child trafficking, rescuing, protecting, and rehabilitating victims,” she notes. “Even while in Canada, for some time I continued my public activism in Ukraine as a national expert.”

Achieving her degree in early February of 2022, Mruchkovska was ready to enter a new career and primary focus in life, while still continuing to advocate and remain involved in supporting and celebrating Ukrainian culture. But as she notes, there was a drastic change in priorities once the Russian invasion took place, and she was compelled to do what she could to help those affected.

“We gathered as a Ukrainian community immediately and decided how to organize aid for Ukraine.” she says. “My life, as a coordinator of the [Help Us Help Ukraine] program, became a 24/7 commitment to thousands of newcomers from Ukraine, for whom we found housing, food, clothing, hygiene products, and everything else needed for survival.”

At that time, Mruchkovska recalls how Ukrainian community members were some of the first on the ground to begin assistance with refugee settlement as the Canadian government developed frameworks and policy measures to assist their transition. Mruchkovska once again leveraged her experience in advocacy to assist in that continued support.

“I managed to convey the right messages to the local government because I had good experience in Ukraine. So, our work progressed successfully,” she says. “I think Canada, overall, did the most in the world in this direction for Ukraine.”

In April 2023, Mruchkovska was elected president of the Vancouver UCC branch, and since that time has looked to keep Ukraine’s challenges on the radar, even as news coverage declines on the war.

“Canada did a great job and is still doing that. But we are also asking for support [and] we are always doing charity events every month,” she says.

In addition to those continued efforts, Mruchovska also highlights one of their upcoming initiatives to sponsor the incoming Ukrainian team for the 2025 Invictus Games that will be hosted in Canada.

But this month, with Ukrainian independence day approaching, she hopes the Vancouver branch’s picnic event – open to all members of the public – can offer an opportunity to celebrate the UCC’s and Ukrainian community’s continued efforts and spotlight Ukrainian culture more broadly.

“We welcome everyone who would like to learn and to be here to be with us,” she says.

To learn more about the org, visit: www.ucc.ca/ucc-member/vancouver-bc