Westport to hold remembrance service for Ukraine war anniversary

Westport will host its third service of remembrance to mark the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

People who have been touched in any way by the conflict in Ukraine are invited to join their day of remembrance on Sunday, February 23 at 2pm at the Octagon, Westport.

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From there, the crowd will move to St Mary’s Church for a service of remembrance. Refreshments will be served afterward in the Castlecourt Hotel at the cost of €10 per person. 

Those who attended last year's ceremony were moved by the poignant and touching scenes as those displaced by the ongoing war remembered their friends and family.

On the day, those who found themselves in Westport and Mayo as a result of the tragedy carried photos and memories of 23 soldiers lost.

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Natalia Herasymenko, who read the names of those 23 souls at the ceremony last year, told The Mayo News at the service that she still holds out hope for Ukraine, even in its darkest times.

“We all truly believe in our victory, and we believe that it’s going to end but nobody knows and nobody feels that it’s going to be soon. But we do have hope and we do believe.”

Over 4,000 Ukrainians have fled to Mayo since the start of the conflict, with many re-settling in the west Mayo area.