Calgary Man Recovers from Drone Strike in Ukraine

Mac Hughes looks at his body and the indelible marks left by a Russian drone strike last year.

Red diamond-shaped forms highlight the skin grafts on his legs. Gray and purple speckled skin covers his feet.

“They look quite scary, almost like Call of Duty skin on my legs or like a painting,” explains the 23-year-old man.

“I’m thinking of getting some cool tattoos to make it look like my legs are on fire or something like that,” he confides.

In a phone interview with The Canadian Press from his apartment in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, the Calgary native explains that he is not yet fully recovered. But he is walking again and is almost able to run.

He is eager to rejoin his unit in the Ukrainian armed forces.

“Nothing changes. The war continues. It will not end for at least two years, unless the world does something, intervenes, and stops Russia,” he asserts.

Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Mr. Hughes has been on site almost from the beginning.

He joined his father to do volunteer work in this war-torn country, then enlisted in the army after the death of a close friend in combat.

During Canada’s recent national holiday, he heard a drone approaching his position and started running, but it exploded and trapped him between a car and a wall. He caught fire.

He pleaded with his military comrades to shoot him down. They refused and eventually freed him. He suffered burns on a third of his body.

He underwent several surgeries. Doctors also relocated some nerves in his legs, Mr. Hughes explains.

“Before, I couldn’t move my foot, and now it works. I see a noticeable difference,” he emphasizes.

Ukraine, particularly the Kharkiv region about 30 kilometers south of the Russian border, has been hit by freezing temperatures and constant Russian attacks, leaving many people without electricity.

Sitting at home in the dark with his girlfriend and three rescued cats, Mr. Hughes believes that most people will probably not realize the impending anniversary of the Russian invasion.

“Unfortunately, it will be just another day for the soldiers on the front line,” he says.

“We have to deal with so many things here, and we lose a lot of friends. I can easily name 15 or 20 people I knew who died, and they were good friends. They come and go, and death and destruction are integral parts of war,” he recounts.

His father, Paul Hughes, traveled to Ukraine from Calgary five days after the invasion. He had initially planned to fight, but ultimately decided to offer his assistance and started his own charity organization, HUGS (Helping Ukraine Grassroots Support).

Paul Hughes’ apartment has been without electricity or heating for two weeks.

“We wear extra cotton inside and wrap ourselves in thick blankets, with very thick socks, to stay warm,” the 61-year-old man explains.

“It’s painful. Because it’s really hard to take a shower when it’s cold, because of all the humidity in the air. I can handle it. I’m Canadian,” he says during a phone interview while on one of his daily deliveries.

“Now, the water pipes are also bursting, because everything starts freezing. And it’s a disaster — a real disaster,” he adds.

He stops to deliver a camping stove to an elderly woman and medicines to another, while an air raid siren sounds in the background. He sighs in frustration.

“There are several sirens every day. The Shahed (drones) come almost every day,” Mr. Hughes says.

A year of peace efforts led by the government of US President Donald Trump failed to end the fighting. Earlier this month, the United States gave Russia and Ukraine until June to reach an agreement to end the war.

“I am not optimistic about this at all, because Trump is so incompetent — he seems to be in Putin’s pocket,” Mr. Hughes declares, referring to the Russian President.

“He seems to be, as they say here, an agent of the Russians,” he adds.

Both father and son state that they intend to return to Calgary, but not immediately.

“Kharkiv is my home now,” says Paul Hughes. “We committed to this path, and after four years, it would not be appropriate to leave. When the war is over, we will go home.”