SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It was a somber Monday night in San Diego and across the western world. The local community gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the House of Ukraine to mark three years since Russia's full-scale invasion.
"It's a difficult evening," said Nadia Haywas, President of the House of Ukraine.
Unified flames glowed in the night, burning especially bright for Ukraine from thousands of miles away.
"We continue to pay tribute to those who are fighting and to memorialize those who have lost their lives," Haywas said.
Monday's vigil honored their valor.
Some estimates show more than 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's invasion, along with more than 40,000 civilians killed or injured according to the UN Human Rights Office.
"I cannot imagine the Ukrainian people giving up freedom and democracy very easily," Haywas said. "So they will fight until they need to."
Add those numbers to the 10 million Ukrainians who've been displaced, six million of whom have sought safety abroad, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Some of them, like Viktoria Barbaniuk, came to San Diego. She landed here March 2, 2022, and still remembers those initial feelings of fear.
“Back then, I was the CEO of a consulting firm, so the moment I woke up we had to figure out how to evacuate our colleagues," Barbaniuk said. “I spent my first night in the bomb shelter."
She added, "My house is okay, but as we say, everything is like relatively safe in some cities, but because it's a full-scale invasion from the sky, from the land, you are never sure when something is going to happen."
The vigil came a day after Russia launched a record number of drones into Ukraine, and a week after President Donald Trump called Zelenskyy a "dictator". Trump even suggested Ukraine started the war, although he has since walked back that comment.
"The contradictions that are occurring constantly are confusing," Haywas said. "They're confusing for us here in the United States, they're confusing for all of our supporters, they're confusing for the people in Ukraine."
Trump did not join European leaders in Ukraine Monday to mark the three-year milestone, but he did say the war with Ukraine could end within weeks.
Meantime, negotiations between Trump and Zelenskyy over Ukraine's mineral wealth continue. Trump said a deal is close, and would play a huge role in gaining U.S. support moving forward.
"I think the most important thing to remember, for everyone watching this, is that Ukraine is on the right side of history," Barbaniuk said. "We never wanted this war, but we are fighting for our existence."
The community similarly gathered outside the House of Ukraine three years ago on the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion, and 11 years ago during the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity when Haywas said the conflict with Russia truly began.
The message then is the same as the message now: Belief in a free Ukraine.
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