The deaths of three protesters allegedly shot by government police in Kyiv last week sent shockwaves through Toronto’s tight-knit Ukrainian community, with many calling yet again for President Viktor Yanukovych to step down.

Hundreds of Ukrainian-Canadians gathered outside Toronto City Hall on Sunday afternoon to honour the three lost lives, which brought the death toll up to six.

The conflict was sparked last November when President Yanukovych decided to scrap proposed ties with the European Union and instead strengthen the country’s trade relationship with Russia. For many Ukrainians praying for a modernized country, the choice was seen as a step backwards to the country’s Soviet past.

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Violent protests have since spread outside the capital city and spilled blood across the country, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Police have used smoke bombs, grenades and gunfire in attempts to quell crowds into submission.

The recent spike in the death toll has many Ukrainians in Toronto fearing for loved ones back home.

“My friends are there and the police are getting more violent, so of course I’m scared,” said Olga Mozkova, a young journalist who recently moved to Toronto from eastern Ukraine.

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Mozkova and three friends attended the city hall protest and later headed to a candlelight vigil inside the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral near Bathurst and Dundas Sts.

About 200 people packed inside the cathedral around 5 p.m. for a panakhyda, a short memorial service for the three recent victims.

One victim has been identified as Mikhail Zhiznevsky, 25, originally from neighbouring Belarus. His coffin was carried through the streets Sunday as thousands chanted “Hero!” and sang the country’s anthem.

With many in the church still holding the nation’s blue-and-yellow flags from the protest, the congregation lit candles while a choir sang somber hymns.

A priest broke from the all-Ukrainian service to offer a prayer in English for those fighting for peace back home.

“May God give them the strength, the super human strength, to be there to represent His will and also exercise the gifts that He gave them: their freedom, their dignity and their love of Christ,” he said.

“May God bless each and every one.”

After the service, Mozkova and her friends gathered outside the church doors to discuss President Yanukovych’s recent offer to the country’s opposition party to allow them to name a prime minister.

“Our people are not struggling for politicians. They want change, real change,” said Vladimir Sheechenko, 24, who was wary that the offer was a veiled attempt to divide and weaken the opposition party. “It doesn’t matter who is in rule, they want reforms.”

Mozkova nodded her head in agreement.

“The only way is re-election,” she said. “We need new leaders. Otherwise, nothing will change.”

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