Ukrainians color London blue, yellow - and orange
— By Tony Leliw

Bishop Paul Chomnycky

More than 3,000 Ukrainians from around Britain attended a mass rally on Sunday in support of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

The demonstration by the statue of Prince Volodymyr, close to the Ukrainian Embassy in west London's leafy Holland Park, was the culmination of a week-long campaign by the For Fair Elections Group.

Amidst the sea of blue and yellow flags and orange scarves, and protesters shouting "Yushchenko!" almost continously, was Taras Chaban, one of the demonstrations organisers, who vowed that this action would continue until the protest ended in Kyiv.

Cheers went up as the rain poured onto the crowds when it was announced on a megaphone that Yushchenko's office were aware of the demonstration and had sent a big thanks - to which the crowd responded with a chant of "molodtsi, molodtsi."

The group had earlier in the week sent a delegation to 10 Downing Street, where they handed in a petition signed by nearly 2,000 people, calling for the British Government to support Ukraine's democratic struggle.

One of the delegation was Bishop Paul Chomnycky, spiritual leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Great Britain, who said: "I wanted to show the support of the church. It was not the result we wanted - which was a Yushcehnko victory - but in the past week Ukraine has become a true nation united in a cause."

Fedir Kurlak, general secretary of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, said: "We're having a mass rally to give moral support to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who have turned out on the streets of Kyiv since the rigged election results were announced.

"The rally is not just about Yushchenko, but about freedom, democracy and justice in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people feel they have been robbed of that."

Father Bohdan Matwijczuk, of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in London, said his church was supporting the Ukrainian independent nation. "It is super to see so many Ukrainians here both those born in Britain and from Ukraine standing for their nation - it is spiritually uplifting."

Jaroslav Mukan, 53, an engineer, living in London, said: "I came here to support Viktor Yushchenko who I know personally because my brother works for the Ministry of Agriculture in Kyiv. I am 100 per cent sure he will be president."

Roman Panas, 43, a British-born Ukrainian, from the Manningham area of Bradford, but now living in London, said: "It is important that we make a stand and not allow these false elections to be pushed through."

Some of the 60 people who came to the rally from Nottingham.

Mr Panas, who works for a computer company, said there were two coaches from Bradford, covering West Yorkshire, organised by the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.

During the rally numerous speakers spoke about the "rigged vote" and a letter of support was read out on behalf of Conservative MP John Wilkinson, who could not attend.

The founder and vice chairman of the British-Ukrainian All-Party Parliamentary Group, Mr Wilkinson served the constituents of Bradford West in the early seventies, when the area had a large Ukrainian population.