‘I’m coming home’: Canadian fighter injured in Ukraine identifies himself as former Forces member

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This article was published 14/03/2022 (920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian volunteer fighter who was injured in a Russian missile attack over the weekend and is now coming home has identified himself on social media as former Canadian Forces member Hunter Francis.

Francis, who identified himself as a 24-year-old from Eel Ground First Nation in New Brunswick, was on the ground at a military training base near Ukraine’s western border Sunday when it was attacked by Russian missiles. He is now in Poland, en route home to Canada, with non-life-threatening injuries.

“I got hit last night in an airstrike,” he wrote on his Facebook page Sunday. “Over 35 were killed. I’m coming home.”

He later wrote in a comment on the platform that the attack was “quite the display of firepower.”

“They hit the supply depot first,” he wrote. “And my barracks second.”

Chris Ecklund, a Hamilton philanthropist running the organization Fight For Ukraine, which provides information and logistical help to Canadians who want to go to Ukraine to volunteer in the fighting, said he learned the Canadian man was affected by the blast Sunday, and then helped arrange to get him out of Ukraine while liaising with the man’s mother back home.

Ecklund declined to give any identifying information about the man, though Francis came forward as the injured Canadian on Facebook.

The extent of the man’s injuries are currently unclear, but Ecklund told The Canadian Press the physical wounds were “superficial” and Ecklund has arranged for a doctor to see him Tuesday. (The man is in a country neighbouring Ukraine.) Although he was able to walk following the attack, it is clear that he endured a traumatic event.

“Right now the physical injuries — we’re still looking into that and I’ll wait to get a report back from a medical doctor,” said Ecklund. “After going through such a traumatic event like this — I mean, if you saw the video that one crater had to be 20 feet deep — it’s quite a shock.”

The assault on the Yavoriv training base near Lviv, close to Ukraine’s border with Poland, on Sunday killed 35 people in one of the westernmost attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two weeks ago.

More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the sprawling facility that is less than 25 kilometres from the Polish border, according to the governor of Ukraine’s western Lviv region. Poland is a key location for routing western military aid to Ukraine.

Francis took videos of demolished and burning structures, burnt-out landscapes, and a massive hole in the ground following the attack, which he sent to Ecklund. Ecklund said some of the Francis’ documents had been destroyed in the blast.

“We actually just put a nice, nice steak dinner in his tummy, and I’m going to be taking care of medical issues as well suffered from the blast. And I’m talking also to his mother trying to reassure her that you know, we’ve got a support system in place … And also talking with our embassy officials, as well. To assist him in getting home,” Ecklund said.

Global Affairs Canada confirmed the report of one injured Canadian Monday.

“Global Affairs Canada is aware of a Canadian injured in Ukraine following recent missile strikes over the weekend,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to the star. “Consular officials are in contact with the individual and stand ready to provide assistance. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”

Canada is sending weapons and supplies, but no troops, to Ukraine as the country continues to defend against Russia’s invasion. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a call for foreign volunteers to come fight in Ukraine, and some Canadians appear to be answering those calls, both by applying to be a member of Ukraine’s foreign legion of fighters through Ukrainian embassies, and by simply showing up.

The Ukrainian Embassy has been overwhelmed with more than 1,000 Canadians volunteering to fight, said Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a former MP who is helping to co-ordinate the effort.

“When you see maternity hospitals being bombed, you know, people respond,” said Wrzesnewskyj, who is the human rights chair of the Ukrainian World Congress.

Volunteers who register with the embassy are vetted before receiving visas, training and equipment on their way to joining the International Legion of the Ukrainian armed forces, he said — but this takes time, pushing many to forgo the official route.

“A lot of those people haven’t waited for the process and have sent an email saying they’re just going,” Wrzesnewskyj said. “I know that there are people that have come from Canada and are already there and joined the territorial defence in Kyiv.”

Zelenskyy says 20,000 foreigners have joined the International Legion.

Leah West, an assistant professor of international affairs at Carleton University, said there’s no real legal risk to Canadians going to fight in Ukraine, provided they are compliant with the laws of armed conflict. However, West, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 10 years, noted that someone with no military experience may not be familiar with those laws.

“We engage in a lot of training to be able to effectively participate in armed conflict, to understand what the laws of armed conflict are, to ensure that we abide by them and also to mentally prepare for armed conflict,” West said.

Ecklund’s group, Fight for Ukraine, provides some preparation advice and logistical help to those volunteers who eschew the embassy training. He said he does not try to convince people to go fight in Ukraine, but does try to give them at least a basic checklist of things to do before flying to Europe and crossing the border into Ukraine.

He said the man affected by the missile strike near Lviv was one of about 200 people who have signed up for help from his group so far.

“After the missile strike, he came to our attention again. We’re talking to him pretty much non-stop now,” Ecklund said.

There have been no confirmed reports of Canadians killed in the conflict yet.

With files from The Canadian Press, The Associated Press, Jeremy Nuttall, Omar Mosleh, and Marco Chown Oved

Alex McKeen is a Vancouver-based reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @alex_mckeen