Canadian volunteers to fight for Ukraine: ‘Death is a real possibility here’

On the night earlier than Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine, Igor Volzhanin met up with a buddy at a espresso store on the centre of Kyiv.

“We stayed there till about midnight simply speaking,” the Canadian recalled in an interview from Ukraine. “Simply speaking about how, you realize, jokingly, what would we do if the warfare had began. There was deep anxiousness, however I don’t assume both of us actually anticipated for it to occur the subsequent morning.”

On Feb. 25, Volzhanin’s vacation in Ukraine was speculated to proceed with a Louis C.Ok. comedy present, and the next day he was to board a aircraft to France for a snowboarding journey. However his plans rapidly modified.

Russian forces started their assault on Feb. 24. Just a few days later, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a name that was heard world wide when he requested individuals from throughout the globe to assist his nation struggle Russia.

Volzhanin doesn’t have army expertise, however he signed up for the so-called Worldwide Legion of Protection of Ukraine anyway. He stated he was the second of the estimated 20,000 individuals from 52 nations who’ve since volunteered to struggle.

“I felt it was the appropriate factor to do,” he stated. “When the warfare began, there was an choice to depart the nation. There was a automobile ready for me, basically. And I felt ? I used to be born in Ukraine. So, that is my residence in a manner, and I felt that I wished to defend it.”

Canadians make up one of many largest teams of volunteers within the worldwide legion, subsequent to these from america and Britain, in accordance with a spokesman. The group is rising and looking for extra members with fight expertise, even because the Canadian authorities and different Western powers warn their residents to not go struggle in Ukraine.

But it surely’s not simply expertise that the legion is looking for, Volzhanin stated. It’s motivation too.

“You’re the underdog, you’re receiving shelling, and the warfare is way more intense,” he stated. “Demise is an actual chance right here.”

Volzhanin, a 34-year-old former tech entrepreneur who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., was wearing a camouflage T-shirt on a current Saturday, and round 7 a.m. native time, he was already hours into his day. When he’s exterior, he stated he wears about 12 kilograms of physique armour, which he described as “fairly mild.”

He’s concerned with the evaluation of candidates for the legion, logistics and different duties as wanted, he stated.

He likened the legion to a “startup” – in a “optimistic sense” – wherein he started on the floor stage to get issues up and working.

If he utilized to be a part of the legion now, he wouldn’t be accepted given his lack of army expertise, he added.

Former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj is a part of a bunch of volunteers who provided to assist the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa contact and vet Canadians eager to reply Zelenskyy’s name to arms.

Wrzesnewskyj stated about 1,500 Canadians have utilized to hitch the worldwide legion. However whereas interviews with potential candidates began a couple of week in the past after a short lived maintain, Wrzesnewskyj stated none have but been deployed.

“They’re simply being cautious to be sure that they’ve the appropriate individuals,” he stated. “That’s been confused again and again that these have to be individuals that basically have fight expertise, and {that a} correct interview and vetting course of takes place.”

Nearly all of the Canadians who’ve utilized would not have fight expertise, and won’t be accepted, Wrzesnewskyj added.

Volzhanin stated he was “extraordinarily” nervous when he first signed up.

“I used to be scared as a result of I by no means served within the army,” he stated. “I didn’t know what to anticipate on the time in February. There have been so many photos and tales of individuals simply being given the gun and despatched to the entrance. I didn’t know what to anticipate.”

Now that it’s been about six weeks since he signed up, he understands that “no one within the army is all for sending untrained troopers to the entrance,” and he’s much more calm and comfy.

Some Canadians have determined to sidestep the formal utility course of and head to Ukraine on their very own to struggle. Wrzesnewskyj stated there have been earlier reviews of Canadians being wounded or killed in fight.

“None of these really ended up, from what I do know, to be right,” he stated. “And hopefully that may proceed being the case. However (for) these that may ultimately be heading in, that could be a actual chance.”

Precisely when Canadians will begin to be deployed stays a thriller, however Wrzesnewskyj stated volunteers are nonetheless wanted even because the battle shifts from an all-out invasion of Ukraine to a warfare for the nation’s japanese and southern territory.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The legion has attracted veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, the Balkan Wars, and individuals who fought drug cartels in South America, Volzhanin stated. Not like these conflicts, these in Ukraine can’t rely on air superiority and different benefits.

Those that be a part of the legion must signal a contract that claims they’ll keep till martial legislation is lifted. However there have been a couple of whose circumstances have modified and have been allowed to depart, Volzhanin stated.

“Nobody retains them within the legion in opposition to their will or need.”

However what he tells individuals is that Ukraine is at warfare and is a rustic with valuable few assets to spare for many who have a sudden change of coronary heart.

“So, in case you are already sort of pondering ‘nicely, possibly I’ll do that for a restricted time frame,’ take into consideration what number of assets the nation will put into you and whether or not or not you’ll be capable to contribute again at the very least the identical or extra,” he stated.

“And if you realize you’re coming in for per week or two, then it’s simply not price it.”

The battle has made him put issues into perspective, and Volzhanin stated he has puzzled how it might have an effect on him sooner or later.

On the morning of the invasion, he stated he was at a grocery retailer the place he noticed a couple of individuals sporting designer clothes and carrying brand-name equipment. Since that second, he stated he has questioned whether or not he may choose up the threads of that previous life and return to the way in which issues have been.

“I simply keep in mind pondering how they misplaced all that means. How not simply misplaced, however simply how meaningless these issues grew to become within the span of eight hours,” Volzhanin stated.

“And that’s true of so much on this planet. I’m wanting on the information and folks’s lives and sort of pondering nicely, but it surely’s not warfare. It’s not loss of life.”

The factor that has shocked him most, Volzhanin stated was how rapidly the assault started.

“It makes you understand how skinny the road actually is between normalcy and warfare,” he stated.

“The evening earlier than, you would simply be strolling down the road and there’s individuals, there’s cafes, bars, all open, individuals having fun with, after which actually eight hours later, you would end up within the warfare zone. There’s one thing that you simply thought was steady, one thing that has been constructed through the years, may simply be all destroyed. Straight away.”