This Ontario man's flag was raised at an Olympic protest in 1976. It's now in Ukraine as a symbol of defiance

From Montreal to Ukraine by way of northern Ontario, a flag used in an anti-Russian protest at the 1976 Olympics is being used again as a symbol of resistance, this time for Day of the National Flag celebrations in Ukraine.

Danylo Myhal, who was born and raised in the Thunder Bay area and lives in the nearby small town of Lappe, has roots in Ukraine and has had the flag since 1972.

But it was four years later that the flag, and Myhal himself, found themselves on the international stage, during an Olympic soccer semifinal match between the U.S.S.R. (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the transcontinental country that existed until 1991) and East Germany in Montreal.

The U.S.S.R. team, Myhal said, was mostly comprised of players from Ukrainian Premier League team Dynamo Kyiv.

"So I made a protest," he said. "I ran from the top of the stadium all the way down past security, hit the railing, [jumped] 12 feet down, and ran around yelling in front of the team and to everybody 'Freedom for Ukraine' in English."

During the 15-second protest, Myhal also did the Ukrainian folk dance hopak.

Police then hauled Myhal out of the stadium. He was kept in a Montreal jail until 11 p.m. He had stuffed the flag down his shirt, however, and managed to hold on to it.

The matter garnered coverage in the Western media, including the New York Times, which wrote about the incident in its July 27, 1976, edition.

"A local group calling itself the Ukrainian Olympic Committee staged a protest tonight in the Olympic Stadium during a soccer match between the Soviet Union and East Germany," the brief story said.

"The group of about 100 waved banners and one of the demonstrators ran onto the field at one point, waving a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag."

The newspaper goes on to quote a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Olympic Committee who said the group exists "solely to draw attention to the fact that while the Ukraine, which has a population of more than 50 million, is a member of the United Nations, it is not permitted to compete in the Olympics separate and apart from the Soviet Union."

Despite the protest, the Soviet team won the match against East Germany 2-1.

Yulia Kovaliv, Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, told CBC News that the protest was "a very famous moment for showing the Ukrainian feeling of freedom."

"That was a very brave move at the time."

She said that at the time, the U.S.S.R. was "trying to undermine all of the Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian identity."

Now, nearly 50 years later, Myhal's protest has garnered further attention, this time from Ukraine itself.

Last week, Myhal got a sudden call from the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa, asking if he'd be willing to part with the flag, so it could be brought to Ukraine for Tuesday's Day of the National Flag and Wednesday's Ukraine Independence Day, which marks Ukraine's 1991 declaration of independence from the U.S.S.R.

The request, Myhal said, apparently came from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Oleksandr Shevchenko, consul general of Ukraine in Toronto, came to Thunder Bay last week to retrieve the flag, meeting Myhal at the city's airport.

He said that at the time, Myhal's protest wasn't seen in Ukraine, as Western media broadcasts couldn't be viewed there.

Shevchenko said last week the flag was returning to Toronto with him, and was then set to make its journey back to Ukraine, likely via Poland.

"When the people in Ukraine will see this this flag and we will learn about the story of Danylo and how he demonstrated, even in a time when it was unimaginable, in the Soviet times. ... it gives courage to the people," Shevchenko said. "[A] fight is now going on ... against the leadership in Kremlin, which are dreaming to restore the Soviet Union and the Soviet empire.

"And we should fight."

Russia launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to demilitarize its smaller neighbour and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and its Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an imperial-style war of conquest.

The conflict, Europe's biggest since the Second World War, has destroyed towns and cities, killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee abroad, and deepened a volatile geopolitical standoff between Russia and the West.

Zelenskyy warned on the weekend of the risk of more severe attacks ahead of the anniversary of the country's independence from Russian-dominated Soviet rule.

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Kovaliv confirmed this week the flag has safely arrived in Ukraine.

In addition to being shown Tuesday during the Day of the National Flag, Myhal's flag will be shown in several cities at Ukrainian Premier League matches after the league restarted play this week.

Myhal said he's "honoured" the flag was sent to Ukraine.

"I'm shocked, and I'm honoured and blessed that the president of Ukraine would like to see this flag," he said. " Maybe he'll hold it.

"I'm just overwhelmed."