Weeks after UNBC Timberwolf Vova Pluznikov held his fundraiser, Run for Ukraine: 44 km for 44 million, to help the people in his home country under siege in Russia’s military invasion, donations continue to roll in.
After running the marathon distance on March 8 and immediately surpassing his goal of raising $44,000 in honour of every Ukrainian, Pluznikov has now raised nearly $76,000 for Red Cross Canada.
“It is amazing how much support we have gotten from this community. The more people I talk to the more I realize that it’s special what we have here in Prince George. Not every community can come together and get behind such an initiative,” said Pluznikov.
“This is not the first time I’m seeing this from the people of Prince George. Obviously, it is surprising because it is a lot of money, but I had full confidence before the event started that people will support this initiative and I’m very, very happy.”
Pluznikov said he is also part of the Prince George for Ukraine volunteer group which is organizing efforts to bring Ukrainian refugees to the city.
On March 18, multiple levels of government gathered on the steps of City Hall to sign a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and Premier stating that Prince George is ready and willing to welcome refugees from Ukraine.
“I saw the involvement from our MLA and it was amazing to see how it blew up and how much support this group has gotten,” said Pluznikov, adding he is thankful for the people who are willing to volunteer their time to help the cause.
“You can see how this group is trying to set up a framework for providing help to the displaced Ukrainians and then start collecting some money for the ones who will eventually come here and will need some money once they are in Canada.”
The United Nations estimated that over three million Ukrainians have fled the country so far, mostly to Poland and other neighbouring countries.
Pluznikov’s own family is still in Ukraine and his parents have left their Kharkiv apartment and are now at a rural cabin on the outskirts of the city.
“It gets pretty loud, and you can see missiles and a couple of videos my mom sent me over the last few days you can hear the whistling sounds in the background of the video,” said Pluznikov. “They are almost used to this now.”
Pluznikov said he has some worrisome news about his brother and sister-in-law who had left for western Ukraine to stay with friends.
His brother was forced to show up at the local military enlistment office and eventually taken to a military training compound for the next two weeks.
“I can’t even imagine how my sister-in-law feels right now because she made it all the way across the country with my brother and now they are separated,” said Pluznikov.
“Knowing a couple of days ago that a missile hit one of the training compounds it is unsettling knowing that my brother is going from a safer location to a place that could be potentially targeted by the Russian military.”
Pluznikov said he would like his family to be able to join him in Canada when the war is over but they aren’t considering leaving the country yet.
“Unfortunately, because men can’t leave the country right now my father and my brother wouldn’t be able to leave and the women in my family are not willing to leave them so we will have to wait until the internal policies change and until the men can have a little more freedom of movement.”
Pluznikov said although it is difficult to think about war, he thinks it’s important for people to not forget about what is happening in Ukraine.
“I think it is really, important to understand that by keeping up with the news and with the latest developments and by talking about it and spreading that information and educating others it helps a lot of people in Ukraine. It helps even if it just means that the world cares and the world won’t turn their backs on us.”
Pluznikov’s fundraiser account with the Red Cross will remain open and continue to accept donations which go directly to the Canadian Red Cross for the humanitarian needs and response efforts in Ukraine.
