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

Igor Volzhanin doesn't have military experience, but he signed up for the so-called International Legion of Defense of Ukraine anyway.

On the evening before Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine, Igor Volzhanin met up with a friend at a coffee shop at the centre of Kyiv.

“We stayed there until about midnight just talking,” the Canadian recalled in an interview from Ukraine. “Just talking about how, you know, jokingly, what would we do if the war had started. There was deep anxiety, but I don’t think either one of us really expected for it to happen the next morning.”

On Feb. 25, Volzhanin’s holiday in Ukraine was supposed to continue with a Louis C.K. comedy show, and the following day he was to board a plane to France for a skiing trip. But his plans quickly changed.

Russian forces began their assault on Feb. 24. A few days later, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a call that was heard around the world when he asked people from across the globe to help his country fight Russia.

Volzhanin doesn’t have military experience, but he signed up for the so-called International Legion of Defense of Ukraine anyway. He said he was the second of the estimated 20,000 people from 52 countries who have since volunteered to fight.

“I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said. “When the war started, there was an option to leave the country. There was a car waiting for me, essentially. And I felt ? I was born in Ukraine. So, this is my home in a way, and I felt that I wanted to defend it.”

Canadians make up one of the largest groups of volunteers in the international legion, next to those from the United States and Britain, according to a spokesman. The organization is growing and seeking more members with combat experience, even as the Canadian government and other Western powers warn their citizens not to go fight in Ukraine.

But it’s not just experience that the legion is seeking, Volzhanin said. It’s motivation too.