Day 1,720 since February 24th, 2022 (1 720 день повномасштабної війни: Day 1,720 of the full-scale war)
Day 4,646 since February 20th, 2014, Temporary Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
Tomorrow is Remembrance Day. At 11:00 a.m. Canada pauses to remember all who served and all who gave their lives. This year I ask you to also remember the Canadians who gave their lives for Ukraine, and the Canadians who trained, served and stood with Ukrainian defenders.
Every year I grow poppies in my garden in Kamloops to remember all who fought for Ukraine and the Canadians who fell there. Those poppies now carry their stories in Where Poppies Bloom (Kondrashov, 2026), a free remembrance book about nineteen Canadians who gave their lives for Ukraine. Each story is paired with a poppy from my garden and gives sources so readers can learn more. The book also thanks those who trained Ukrainians on Operation UNIFIER, the Canadian Armed Forces, the wounded, families, and every Canadian who stands with Ukraine.
The book is free in English and Ukrainian at https://krasun.ca/where-poppies-bloom. The French edition, Là où fleurissent les coquelicots, will be available once the translation is complete. If you know French, please help improve the translation. Families who wish to add a memory or ask for a change are welcome to write to me, and each story will be updated in the next edition. Please share the book with your school, church, community hall or Legion.
Two conferences this month
- Ukrainian Roots Challenge International Conference, Thursday, November 19, online. Theme: Коріння. Пам’ять. Діалог (Korinnia. Pamiat. Dialoh: Roots, Memory, Dialogue). Video competition winners will be announced. Register: https://forms.gle/9xxb4YiVyJ8oBaD3A
- Ukrainian Values in a Global World: Third International Conference, Friday, November 20 (Saturday, November 21 if needed), on Zoom at 8:00 a.m. Kamloops time. Free; abstracts due November 13. Submit an abstract: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqiRP-H7Tq3RP2239pr3LYX4A5QfQRik2GNjdpAb8BToXlYg/viewform. Register on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2KCpS83WQVWI7QUdItvPsA. Details: https://krasun.ca/conferences/
Worth watching and remembering
- 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Chernov, 2026) follows a platoon fighting to retake one fortified village, step by step: https://www.pbs.org/video/2000-meters-to-andriivka-q2ay68/
- War on Art (Miękus, n.d.) follows volunteers who secretly move artworks to save Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Communities can request a screening: https://waronart.org
- Holodomor Memorial Day is Saturday, November 28, 2026, the fourth Saturday of November (Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day Act, 2008). Holodomor (Holodomor: death by hunger) was the man-made famine of 1932 to 1933 in Ukraine: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/u-0.4/FullText.html
Stand with us
Join us every Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Kamloops City Hall. We stand, raise our flags and write postcards to Ukrainian defenders. If you live elsewhere, please stand wherever you are. Saturday, November 14, is our 247th.
Remember through giving
- TRU Friends of Ukraine Award: https://tru.ca/ukraine
As we remember, we also honour Indigenous veterans, remembered on November 8, and all who served Canada.
Вічна пам’ять героям (Vichna pamiat heroiam: Eternal memory to the heroes)
Love. Care. Share.
References
Chernov, M. (Director). (2026). 2000 meters to Andriivka [Documentary film]. FRONTLINE; PBS. https://www.pbs.org/video/2000-meters-to-andriivka-q2ay68/
Kondrashov, O. (2026). Where poppies bloom: Canadians who gave their lives for Ukraine. DROKACADEMY. https://krasun.ca/where-poppies-bloom
Miękus, A. (Director). (n.d.). War on art [Documentary film]. https://waronart.org
Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day Act, S.C. 2008, c. 19. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/u-0.4/FullText.html
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