Photo: CBC News: The National/Youtube
An elite Canadian sniper is among the foreign nationals joining the Ukrainian military in its fight againstRussia amid the ongoing invasion.
Nicknamed Wali, the former sniper for Canada’s Royal 22nd Regiment — whose real identity was withheld — recently spoke toCBCabout helping in the war, similar to a number of Canadian soldiers who have answered Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for volunteers to create an"international legion."
“I want to help them. It’s as simple as that,” Wali told the outlet. “I have to help because there are people here being bombarded just because they want to be European and not Russian.”
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He told the outlet that his wife begged him not to go, saying, “You can imagine what she said and how she thinks.” Wali admitted the “hardest part” was missing his son’s first birthday, but he said he feels obligated to leave his IT job at home and offer his physical support in Ukraine.
Wali, who previously volunteered to join Kurdish forces during their battle against Islamic State extremists in Iraq several years ago, crossed the border into Ukraine through Poland earlier this week and said he and other volunteers were welcomed with open arms.
“They were so happy to have us,” he told CBC. “It’s like we were friends right away.”
“A week ago, I was still programming stuff,” Wali added. “Now I’m grabbing anti-tank missiles in a warehouse … That’s my reality right now.”
Dmytro Smolyenko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
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With NATO forces amassing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
