Written By Brad Harness
“Borys Nadiya. His name meant To Fight…For Hope.
Age 31…single…no kids that he knew about, as the old saying goes.
The passenger jet touched down in Warsaw, and he soon found himself in the airport terminal, collecting his bags. Borys had brought a suitcase of personal items, along with a kitbag of army gear.
Where he was going, he wanted to be comfortable and don reliable kit in the field fighting against Putin’s evil army.
Next up was a bus headed from Warsaw to Lviv, the great historical city in western Ukraine. The journey would take more than a few hours on the coach…six, to be precise. The coach was crowded. It was headed into Ukraine, and there were civilians returning home after spending years in the west. There were a few soldiers, like Borys. There were aid workers, and businessmen, and there were government people, including medical staff.
Borys noticed the nurses in particular, not just because they were pretty, but more so that they drove home the point of how dangerous his situation was about to become.
The bus slowed as it passed through the first major town along the highway, Pulawy. And then an hour later it was the city of Lublin. He noted the population sign at the city limits and recalled that London, Ontario and Lublin, Poland are about the same size. After letting off some passengers and replacing them with fresh ones, the bright red luxury coach gathered speed and scooted out of the city, taking the same highway and heading southeast for Zamosc. After that town, miles of farm fields and forests took them to the border village of Hrebenne - on the Polish side - and Rava-Ruska on the Ukraine side. Customs officials came aboard and examined passports and travel documents. And then they were off once again, the final hour’s journey before arriving at the bus terminal in Lviv.
The city was larger, very old, and quite beautiful in terms of architecture. He stepped down and gathered with the others who ended their trip in Lviv. They all waited patiently - they were tired, after all - to collect their luggage.
A taxi driver hailed the big Canadian, and when Borys nodded in agreement, he quickly came over and helped with the luggage.
The man smiled and asked where he was from. Borys told him.
“My cousin…is in Edmonton!”
NEXT WEEK: PART 3
