Ukrainian Australians say the MH17 tragedy is a terrible wake-up call for the international community and are urging “the severest form” of action against Russian President Vladimir Putin after a memorial service in Canberra.
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On Sunday nearly 30 community members, some traveling up from Sydney, gathered around 298 candles, 29 of them red for the Australian victims, at a hastily organised memorial at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Tears welling, many openly expressed fears for the future of the country they had left and the safety of family remaining behind.
"I have family in Ukraine and in Russia, so it hits me hard," attendee Tamara Wilcock said. "I'm so sad, it shows that there is no issue that doesn’t spread its tentacles far and wide."
Genrikh Salata, a PhD student from the ANU Centre for European studies, told The Canberra Times he struggled to express his thoughts on the incident, as he was too distracted by thoughts of his family in Kiev.
"These are innocent people who have fallen victim to an act of terrorism. I don’t have the words to describe it," Mr Salata said.
Sonia Mycak, a Ukrainian Australian academic at the centre, backed Prime Minister Tony Abbott's response to the incident so far. "The world must say 'no' to what Putin is doing here and take the most severe action possible," she said.
"I think perhaps that it hasn’t been taken seriously enough, in that I think we misunderstood that this would lead to a more and more grave situation; which is what is now happening," Dr Mycak said.
Andrew Bilinsky drove from Sydney for the service and said "the Pro-Russian forces are hooligans". He stressed, however, he was Australian and was there to "mourn my fellow countrymen".
Organiser Father Michael Solomko said the memorial was also for "all those who had lost their lives in defence of their homeland", referring to those who had died in the conflict in Ukraine that flared up in November last year and led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
The Ukrainian community has long been calling for action against Mr Putin. Stefan Romaniw, the chairman of the Australian Federation of Ukranian Organisations called for Australian sanctions against Russia in March.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher also backed Mr Abbott's response to the conflict so far, saying he "has been doing an incredible job to express the the shock, anger and grief felt by the community".
Ms Gallagher said she had organised for a condolence book to be placed at the Legislative Assembly, which should be in place by Tuesday.
When asked about whether she had heard from the Russian Federation embassy in Canberra, Ms Gallagher said: "I haven’t but I imagine the diplomatic missions will choose to be involved through this process of the condolence book as they have in the past."
