Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 6, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A1 SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2022 FOR MANITOBA. FOR 150 YEARS. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. SERVING WINNIPEG AND THE WEST SINCE 1872 The ® INSIDE BASS MASTER Vaughn Poyser’s rich legacy in the Winnipeg music community comes with strings attached — four of them / A4 FRIEND OR FOE? The Winnipeg Wesmen needed help from archrival Manitoba Bisons to stay alive — and they got it / B1 WEATHER PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW. HIGH -8 LOW -16 L VIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanc- tions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised ceasefire in the port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror in the besieged town. With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million. By nighttime Russian forces had intensified their shelling of Mariupol, while dropping powerful bombs on res- idential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. Bereft mothers mourned slain children, wounded soldiers were fitted with tourniquets and doctors worked by the light of their cellphones as bleakness and desperation pervaded. Putin continued to pin the blame for all of it squarely on the Ukrainian leader- ship and slammed their resistance to the invasion. “If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.” He also hit out at western sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling. “These sanctions that are being im- posed, they are akin to declaring war,” he said during a televised meeting with flight attendants from Russian airline Aeroflot. “But thank God, we haven’t got there yet.” Russia’s financial system suffered yet another blow as Mastercard and Visa announced they were suspending operations in the country. Ten days after Russian forces invad- ed, the struggle to enforce the tempo- rary cease-fires in Mariupol and the eastern city of Volnovakha showed the fragility of efforts to stop the fighting across Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said Russian ar- tillery fire and airstrikes had prevent- ed residents from leaving before the agreed-to evacuations got underway. Putin accused Ukraine of sabotaging the effort. A third round of talks between Rus- sia and Ukraine will take place Mon- day, according to Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation. He gave no additional details, including where they would take place. Previous meetings were held in Belarus and led to the failed cease-fire agreement to create humanitarian cor- ridors for the evacuation of children, women and older people from besieged cities, where pharmacies have run bare, hundreds of thousands face food and water shortages, and the injured have been succumbing to their wounds. Evacuation ceasefires collapse in Russian shelling YURAS KARMANAU Nuclear threat spotlights Norad defences LEE BERTHIAUME IHOR Shved’s friends and family in Ukraine are rushing back and forth from the border to Poland to transport food, medicine and refugees. He tries to keep in contact with them, but as they struggle to find places to charge their phones or get a signal, he might not hear from them for a time. Shved, who is a priest at the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Vladimir and Olga on McGregor Street, has been working to send money and supplies to Ukraine almost non-stop. “It’s difficult,” he said. “Every morn- ing, it’s 7 a.m., and I’m already up and in touch with them and with volunteers here who help. And we are trying to organize what we can.” Shved and others at his congregation have collected about $6,000 from their own funds to send for aid. But actual- ly getting that money in the hands of their friends in Ukraine is difficult, Shved said, and they’re still working out the logistics. They’re also collecting things like diapers and medical supplies, specif- ically something that “will help stop bleeding,” he said. Again the logistics are proving difficult, but most likely the goods will ship to Poland, before being transported into Ukraine. He said the effort to help, while tiring, is necessary for the emotional health of himself and others at the church. “A lot of people are doing that — helping — because they need to be together. They are gathering because their brother, sister are in danger. They can’t just sit at home and watch to see all the terrible things. You need to support them,” he said. The church is even selling small batches of pierogies to scrape together funds; although, Shved knows it will not bring in much money. It is just to keep busy, to do everything possible. Shved said he’s grateful for how the community has rallied to help his people. Manitobans of both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian heritage have been striking up fundraisers en masse to send aid to those affected by the Rus- sian invasion. Goodies Bakeshop has been collect- ing money to send to Ukraine through the sale of heart-shaped sugar cookies coloured with blue and yellow royal icing. Co-owner Max Plenokosov is from Ukraine, but was not available Saturday to speak. Helping amid heartbreak CODY SELLAR Fundraisers find many ways to aid Ukraine WAR IN UKRAINE OTTAWA — Russian President Vladi- mir Putin’s decision to put his coun- try’s nuclear arsenal on high alert last weekend has sparked hope that Ottawa and Washington will finally act with urgency in upgrading North America’s defences. Successive Canadian and American governments have been promising for years to modernize the North Ameri- can Aerospace Defence Command, or Norad, which was first created during the Cold War to protect against a Sovi- et attack. Yet despite increasingly urgent warnings from senior military com- manders on both sides of the border about the need to address a growing number of gaps in North America’s defences, many are still waiting for Canada to act. Norad commander U.S. Gen. Glen VanHerck this week highlighted the growing threat that North America faces as Russia and China develop and field long-range weapons that can hit Canada or the United States, and which the current system can’t detect. Those include nuclear and non-nu- clear weapons such as hypersonic and cruise missiles, which Putin put on high alert last weekend in retaliation for NATO’s support of Ukraine. Appearing before a Congressional committee on Tuesday, VanHerck said the long-held assumption that Canada and the U.S. could deploy forces at will because of the conti- nent’s geographic safety “is eroding — and has been eroding for more than a decade.” As adversaries continue to field faster and longer-ranged weapons, he added, “we must improve our ability to detect and track potential threats anywhere in the world while delivering data to decision makers as rapidly as possible.” The federal Liberal government insists modernizing Norad is a top pri- ority. To that end, Canada and the U.S. have issued several joint statements over the years affirming the need to upgrade the system. Ottawa also set aside an initial $163 million for the effort last year. Yet while the U.S. has been pressing ahead on a number of fronts, including the deployment of new missile inter- ceptors and artificial intelligence to merge data from a variety of different sources to detect an attack, Canada has been largely silent. ● COLLAPSE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● HELP, CONTINUED ON A3 ● DEFENCES, CONTINUED ON A2 DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Reverend Ihor Shved and members of his congregation at the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olga have contributed $6,000 of their own funds so far. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kids say prayers for Ukraine at the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Volody- myr and Olga on McGregor Street on Saturday. A_01_Mar-06-22_FP_01.indd 1 2022-03-05 11:43 PM ;