‘Don’t forget about us’: Vancouver man in Kyiv renews call for help

A B.C. man who went to join his family in Ukraine and is helping with the war effort says people on the ground are in dire need of medical gear, radios and protective equipment.

A Ukrainian-Canadian man from Vancouver is calling for more help for the eastern European country, a month after he landed in Kyiv to help with the war effort.

Nazarii, who has asked not to have his last name published to protect family members in Ukraine, has been doing logistics work with the Territorial Defence Forces since arriving in the country just after Russia invaded in February.

“There’s three acute shortages that our government didn’t think it was going to need in such quantities,” he said.

“Personal protection, you know, body armor, communication such as digital radios, satellite phones, ect., and specific medial items such as tourniquets, those Israeli bandages, chest wound bandages, ect.”

Nazarii’s trip to Ukraine wasn’t originally intended as a mission to defend the country.

In February, as talk of conflict with Russia grew, he moved up a planned summer visit with his family because of an “internal gut feeling” something was going to happen.

He was on a layover in Istanbul when the invasion began.

“So a couple of days passed, I stayed in Istanbul, and then I realized that none of my family is planning to move or evacuate. They are planning to stay,” he said.