‘Nothing’s changing’: Canadian recovering in Ukraine sees no end to war

CALGARY — Mac Hughes looks at his body and the permanent reminders of a Russian drone strike last year.

Angry red, diamond shapes outline skin grafts on his legs. Mottled grey and purple skin covers his feet.

“They look kind of gnarly, almost like Call of Duty skin on my legs or a painting,” says the 23-year-old.

“I’ve been thinking about cool tattoos that I should do … to make it look like my legs are on fire with flames or something like that.”

Read more:

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The Calgary man, in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from his apartment in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, says he still faces more recovery. But he’s walking again and almost able to run.

He’s eager to get back to his unit with the Ukrainian armed forces.

“Nothing’s changing. The war’s going on. It’s not going to go away for at least another couple of years unless the world actually does something and steps in and stops Russia.”

Tuesday marks four years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hughes has been there since almost the beginning.

He joined his father in doing volunteer work in the war-torn country then signed up with the military after a close friend died in the fighting.

Last Canada Day, he heard a drone nearing his position and ran, but it exploded and pinned him between a car and a wall. He then caught on fire.

He begged fellow soldiers to shoot him. They refused and eventually freed him. He suffered burns to one-third of his body.

There have been several surgeries. Doctors also moved some of the nerves in his legs, Hughes says.

“Before this I couldn’t move my foot, and now the foot’s working. I can see a noticeable difference.”

Ukraine, especially the Kharkiv area, about 30 kilometres south of the Russian border, has been hit with freezing temperatures and constant Russian attacks, leaving many without power.

Sitting at home in the dark with his girlfriend and three abandoned cats they rescued, Hughes says the upcoming anniversary of the Russian invasion likely won’t register with most people.

“Sadly, it’s just going to be another day for the guy on the front line,” he says.

“You deal with so much stuff here and you lose a lot of friends. I can easily name 15 or 20 people that I know who have died, and they were good friends of mine. They come and they go and death and destruction is a real part of war.”

His father, Paul Hughes, headed to Ukraine from Calgary five days after the invasion. He initially planned to fight but ended up providing aid and set up his own charity, HUGS (Helping Ukraine Grassroots Support).

There has been no electricity or heat at his Kharkiv apartment for a couple weeks.

“You wear the extra hoodie inside and cover yourself in blankets, extra thick socks,” the 61-year-old says about staying warm.

“It sucks. Because it’s really tough to have a shower when it’s cold, because you get all that humidity in the air. I can deal with it. I’m a Canadian,” he says in a phone interview during one of his daily deliveries.

“Now you have water mains breaking as well, because the stuff starts freezing up. And it’s been a disaster … such a disaster.”

He stops to deliver a camp stove to an elderly woman and medicine to another, an air raid siren wailing in the background. He sighs in frustration.

“There’s multiple sirens every day. The Shahed (drones) coming in almost every day.”

A year of peace efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s government has failed to stop the fighting. Earlier this month, the U.S. gave Russia and Ukraine a June deadline to reach a deal to end the war.

“I have zero optimism on that front, because Trump is so incompetent … he seems to be in Putin’s pocket,” says the elder Hughes, referring to the Russian president.

“He seems to be, as they say over here, an operative for the Russians.”

Both father and son say they intend to eventually return to Calgary but not any time soon.

“Kharkiv is my home now,” says Paul Hughes. “We committed to this and now after four years for us to walk away is just not appropriate.

“When the war is over, we’re going to be heading home.”

Read more:

• Ukrainians push for permanent residency in Canada as war with Russia grinds on
• Ukrainian emergency visa holders expected to return after war: immigration department
• Sask. Ukrainians worry about residency after changes to provincial immigration program