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Zytynksy’s Deli in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood has been the anchor of the city’s Ukrainian community for a century.
For three generations, the Zytynsky family has handcrafted Ukrainian specialities like pierogies and kielbasa sausages and provided the city with a slice of the Old Country.
Russia’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine has hit Canada’s Ukrainian community hard.
“Tension, full of anxiety and very sad,” said Angel Zytynsky, the current proprietor of the famed deli that bears her family name. “It's been crazy.”
Ms Zytynsky, whose grandfather founded the deli in the 1920s, has been buoyed by a supportive clientele that has made an extra effort to come to the deli.
“All nationalities are coming into the store: French, English, Romanian, Greek, Italian, they're all worried and worried about me and our family and Ukraine,” she told The National by phone, her voice quavering.
Canada is home to nearly 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent — the largest Ukrainian population outside of Ukraine and Russia.
The community has deep roots in Canada, with the first wave of immigration occurring at the turn of the 20th century, when people were fleeing oppression under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Many settled in the Canadian prairies, where they worked on farms.
Another large wave came after the Second World War.
Today, Ukrainian communities dot the country and form one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada.
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is of Ukrainian descent and speaks the language fluently.
Canada was the first Western country to recognise Ukrainian independence in 1991, which is a source of great pride. But many in the community now feel Canada did not do enough to deter Russia from invading and are disappointed Canada has not taken the lead on diplomatic efforts.
“I’ve felt that Canada has been waiting for its allies to lead the charge on this, which is disappointing,” said Yuri Broda, president of the Ukrainian Association of Canada.
Mr Broda, whose family arrived after the Second World War, said he would like to see his government be more “proactive” in its support of Ukraine.
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A woman holds a placard during a protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. EPA -
People carry Ukrainian flags and signs reading 'Stop War' and 'Stop Russia' as they protest at the Russian embassy in the Hague, the Netherlands. EPA -
Ukrainians hold a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside Downing Street in London. PA -
A woman takes part in an anti-war protest in front of the Russian embassy in Paris. AFP -
Demonstrators in front of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. AFP -
A protest outside the Russian embassy in the Netherlands. AFP -
People wear the Ukrainian national flag during a protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. EPA -
A woman holds a placard as people protest outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Madrid, Spain. EPA -
Ukrainian citizens protest in front of the Russian embassy in Paris. AFP -
Demonstrators with Ukrainian flags in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. AFP -
A protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. EPA -
A demonstrator in front of the German Chancellery in Berlin. AFP
In recent days, like much of Europe and the US, Canada has levied a barrage of sanctions against Russia, calling for the country to be expelled from the Swift international banking system — a major blow to those receiving payments through international transactions. On Sunday, Canada closed its airspace to Russia, a move that mirrors many European nations.
Marc Shwec, chairman of the Stands with Ukraine Committee at the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress in Toronto, said that Canada was taking the necessary steps to help.
He was particularly pleased with Canada's military assistance, he said. The government announced on Sunday that it would be sending a third shipment of lethal aid to Ukraine.
“Canada has been pretty good,” he told The National. “I mean, we're not a superpower, but Canada has been pretty good to help Ukraine.”
Mr Shwec worries that with Russia slowly gaining control of important arteries in the country, it will become harder for western countries to deliver military assistance.
Back at Zytynsky’s Deli, Ms Zytynsky said she has been inundated with requests for Ukrainian flags, a gesture she said has touched her greatly.
“I guess they want to wrap themselves around the flag so they feel comfort,” she said.
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A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters -
People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP -
Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP -
A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -
Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP -
A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP -
Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP -
Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters -
An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters -
Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP -
A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP -
Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters -
Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP -
Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters -
People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -
A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP -
People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA -
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP -
People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP -
A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP -
A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty -
Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters -
Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP -
Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -
People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters -
Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP -
A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters -
An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters -
The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA -
The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA -
A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP -
A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA -
Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -
A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP -
Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP
