Alberta aid volunteers continue on Ukraine battlefront

Friday marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, and Alberta aid volunteers look back on their efforts on the ground, as work still being done.

“In this one year of war, we woke up in the morning with awful feelings. You still remember what happened that day,” Calgary man Roman Yosyfiv told CityNews.

“I’m a grown man but I was scared. In the morning when we heard the bombs, I took my little one and we went to the first floor and just laid on the ground holding her, thinking to myself what are we doing here?”

Yosyfiv and his family were on a year-long trip to Ukraine, visiting loved ones before the war started.

They were supposed to come back to Canada, but when they heard Russia was going to invade, instead of fleeing, Yosyfiv decided to stay and help.

“I thought to myself there’s going to be a lot of kids and women coming to west of Ukraine from the east and they need help. While I’m waiting to decide what to do next, I’m going to help these people,” he said.

Yosyfiv used Facebook to keep his Canadian friends updated and to ask for support.

In the past year, through social media, he’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to supply medical aid.

“I truly appreciate Canadians for what we’ve done for Ukraine. It’s a nice warm feeling Ukrainians have for Canada,” said Yosyfiv.

Meanwhile, Dave Bryenton — another Alberta man — spent the past year traveling back and forth from Edmonton to Ukraine, bringing donated military and tactical supplies to the front lines.

“I’ve been to Ukraine now 11 times to deliver aid, my record is 47 bags in one trip. We estimate we’ve taken over 1.5 million dollars in aid to Ukraine,” Bryenton said.

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Bryenton is one of the few volunteers who travel to the eastern regions of Ukraine, where conflict is prevalent.

“When I go east, south, or north, one of the things I do represent is the west of Canada … standing with them in their conflict. I don’t get directly in harm’s way but it’s there. I’ve been scared at times with shells flying overhead,” Bryenton said.

Bryenton will return to Ukraine for the 12th time next week, where he’ll meet up with Yosyviv.

The two Albertans will continue their volunteer efforts — and this time — supplying drones to the Ukrainian military.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada will stand by Ukraine’s side for as long as it takes to finish the war. He also announced that Canada is sending more weapons to Ukraine, including four more battle tanks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was defiant in the face of the anniversary Friday. He also became emotional, as he urged Moscow to leave Ukraine at a press conference with international media.

He pledged to push for victory in 2023, and said the anniversary was Ukraine’s “longest day,” but the country’s dogged resistance a year on has proven that “every tomorrow is worth fighting for.”

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force said earlier this week the military expected several waves of Russian attacks to mark the occasion, but air raid sirens in Kyiv remained silent.

— With files from The Canadian Press