‘Death is a real possibility,’ Canadian fighter says in Ukraine

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

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“We stayed there till about midnight simply speaking,” the Canadian recalled in an interview from Ukraine. “Simply speaking about how, you understand, jokingly, what would we do if the conflict had began. There was deep nervousness, however I don’t suppose 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 all over the world when he requested folks from throughout the globe to assist his nation combat Russia.

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Volzhanin doesn’t have navy 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 folks from 52 nations who’ve since volunteered to combat.

“I felt it was the suitable factor to do,” he stated. “When the conflict began, there was an possibility to depart the nation. There was a automotive ready for me, primarily. And I felt I used to be born in Ukraine. So, that is my residence in a approach, and I felt that I needed 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 line with a spokesman. The group is rising and searching for extra members with fight expertise, even because the Canadian authorities and different Western powers warn their residents to not go combat in Ukraine.

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Nevertheless it’s not simply expertise that the legion is searching for, Volzhanin stated. It’s motivation too.

“You’re the underdog, you might be receiving shelling, and the conflict is rather more intense,” he stated. “Dying 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 outdoors, 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” — through which he started on the floor stage to get issues up and working.

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If he utilized to be a part of the legion now, he wouldn’t be accepted given his lack of navy 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 desirous 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 brief maintain, Wrzesnewskyj stated none have but been deployed.

“They’re simply being cautious to make it possible for they’ve the suitable folks,” he stated. “That’s been burdened time and again that these must be folks that basically have fight expertise, and {that a} correct interview and vetting course of takes place.”

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Nearly all of the Canadians who’ve utilized should 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 navy,” he stated. “I didn’t know what to anticipate on the time in February. There have been so many photographs 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 navy is concerned about sending untrained troopers to the entrance,” and he’s much more calm and cozy.

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

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“None of these truly ended up, from what I do know, to be appropriate,” he stated. “And hopefully that can proceed being the case. However (for) these that can finally be heading in, that may 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 conflict for the nation’s jap 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 depend on air superiority and different benefits.

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Those that be a part of the legion should 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 had been allowed to depart, Volzhanin stated.

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

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

“So, if you’re already type of pondering ‘nicely, perhaps I’ll do that for a restricted time period,’ 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 not less than the identical or extra,” he stated.

“And if you understand you’re coming in for every week or two, then it’s simply not value it.”

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The battle has made him put issues into perspective, and Volzhanin stated he has puzzled how it could 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 folks carrying 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 best way issues had been.

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

“And that’s true of so much on the earth. I’m wanting on the information and folks’s lives and type of pondering nicely, but it surely’s not conflict. It’s not dying.”

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 conflict,” he stated.

“The evening earlier than, you might simply be strolling down the road and there’s folks, there’s cafes, bars, all open, folks having fun with, after which actually eight hours later, you might end up within the conflict zone. There’s one thing that you just thought was steady, one thing that has been constructed over time, may simply be all destroyed. Instantly.”