About 30 people took part in a Sunday night, Feb. 27 vigil in 91原创 City to show support for Ukraine.

91原创 City Mayor Val van den Broek, who is Ukrainian on her father鈥檚 side, spoke to decry the invasion ordered by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

鈥淭hey are a hard-working, innocent people that did not ask for this war,鈥� van den Broek said of the country.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e hiding in bomb shelters. Women are having babies in metro [subway] stations.鈥�

Van den Broek has relatives living in the Ukraine, near Odessa and Chernobyl.

She described them as 鈥渢errified,鈥� but determined to stay.

鈥淚n 1990, when the [Berlin] wall came down, I never thought we would be looking at the USSR again,鈥� van den Broek commented. 鈥淧utin is a dictator, and in my view, he should be charged with war crimes.鈥�

鈥淢entally, physically, emotionally, we need to be together, because our world is going through a tough time,鈥� van den Broek said.

Participants carried candles and placards.

Sunflowers, the national flower of the Ukraine, were handed out at the Vineyard church before participants walked to the cenotaph in Douglas Park.

鈥淚t is a beautiful flower, but it also provides sustenance,鈥� van den Broek said.

鈥淵ou can give [a sunflower] to someone else to feed them. They can grow it and feed. That鈥檚 the type of people, that鈥檚 the heart Ukrainians have.鈥�

READ ALSO: Vigil for Ukraine will be held on Sunday in 91原创 City

At the Vineyard church, longtime 91原创 resident Sam Omelaniec recited the Lord鈥檚 prayer in Ukrainian.

鈥淢y parents came [to Canada] from Belarus in 1936, they spoke Ukrainian dialect, not Russian,鈥� he explained.

鈥淚 hate what鈥檚 going on in the Ukraine,鈥� Omelaniec added.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a travesty.鈥�

More than a million Ukrainians call Canada home, and in 2016, about four per cent of people in Canada who responded to the census identified as being of Ukrainian descent.

Protests have sprung up in several cities and towns around the world since Russia launched attacks on Ukraine on Feb. 24. In B.C., protests have been held in several communities including Kelowna, Penticton, Victoria and Vancouver.

READ ALSO: Thousands march in downtown Vancouver in support of Ukraine

More photos from the 91原创 City event can be viewed .