B.C. man with no ties to Ukraine willing to defend against Russian invasion

As more than 870,000 people have fled the violence in Ukraine, half have travelled west into Poland, and they are crossing paths with thousands who are going in the opposite direction.

Poland border officials say there has been an influx of people wanting to enter Ukraine through its borders since the attacks began.

As of Wednesday, 62,000 people have left Poland for Ukraine since Feb. 24, and while 58,000 of whom were Ukrainian citizens, there are thousands going into Ukraine who are not.

Many Canadian-Ukrainians have spoken about their willingness to fight for Ukraine, but there are a growing number of those who have no ties to Ukraine trying to join in the fight.

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Among them is Bryson Woolsey, who lives in the Sunshine Coast community of Powell River, and has never been to Ukraine in his life.

The 33-year-old doesn’t speak the language, has no military background, and is so motivated that he already quit his job as a cook to enlist.

The only issue is that right now, he is among many with similar aspirations, trying to figure out exactly how to go about joining a war in another country.

“I’m pretty confident and comfortable with whatever role I end up in over there … [Even] if that means I have to sacrifice my life.”

The Ukrainian president has invited foreign fighters to be a part of the international brigade and Canada’s prime minister was asked about individuals travelling to Ukraine to do so.

“Some Canadians may choose to take more active steps. We will, of course, look at ways to make sure that we’re keeping Canadians safe that remains our priority every step of the way. And we encourage Canadians, as we have been for many, many months, many weeks anyway, to leave Ukraine if they’re in Ukraine right now.” Justin Trudeau said Monday.

Hundreds of Canadians enlist daily 

Mir Huculak, Honorary Consul of Ukraine for B.C., says he has received an overwhelming response from people trying to join in the fight.

“I’ve been inundated with calls I get for the last two days. I’ve had about 150 calls a day. People want to volunteer either fighting or medical help or whatever … Most of them have some training,” he said. He adds the majority of people calling have no Ukrainian heritage.

He says he directs them to apply at the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa, where they will be vetted, however, he says the embassy is not actively encouraging it.

Huculak believes they will have to pay their own way no matter what Ottawa decides.

“When you consider how many soldiers Ukrainian needs, it’s a small drop in the bucket. But everything helps. So we’re not discouraging it. But we have to pick the right people,” he said.

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Woolsey says he’s been waiting for guidance from the Ukrainian consulate on the next steps, and in the meantime, he is bracing for the worst possible outcome, “everyone is taken out when they’re supposed to get taken out… I’ve come to terms of that in that sense.”

He wanted to be among those crossing from Poland this week, but says he’s been told there’s just so many people there and it would only add to the burden.

“So I think I might have jumped the gun a little bit on [quitting my job] but … it is what it is. So … there’s a lot of stuff to go through just to get over there right now.”

His family and friends have accepted his decision but his mom, dad, and sister are “scared and nervous” as well.

“Definitely there’s fear. I think any sane person would be fearful, right? It’s a dangerous warzone, there’s a lot that can happen,” he said.

“It’s just, I’m not gonna let fear stop me from doing something that I really, really believe in.”

He says since he announced he was planning to go, he’s received a lot of support, including from a Canadian veteran who has offered their expertise.

“Someone has reached out to me locally on Facebook that is a veteran and offered to give me some firearms training and, and other stuff before I go, which was really cool. So I get to take advantage of that. So I might have a little bit [of training] but yeah, as of right now I have no military training nor combat experience.”

He says many of his friends would also want to go and fight, but can’t because they have families to support.

“I’ve had lots of people reach out to me, they want to do the same thing, which is pretty cool … Quite a few Canadians really, really want to get something good.”