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Two Canadians have been killed in action around the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, one of whom told CBC News before his death that the situation on the front lines was like a “meat grinder.”
Kyle Porter, 27, of Calgary, Alta., and Cole Zelenco, 21, of St. Catharines, Ont., are two servings with the Ukrainian International Legion attached to the 92nd Mechanized Brigade.
The unit suffered from fierce Ukrainian efforts to hold Bakhmut against a determined Russian attack.
The city in the eastern Donbas region has been the site of the longest and bloodiest fighting of the war, with thousands – if not tens of thousands – of casualties on both sides.
Porter had been in contact with CBC News in the days leading up to his death. They had exchanged several text messages and shared their concerns about the difficult situation ahead.
“Let me know how I will live the next few days…” he wrote three days before his death.
“This is my first meat grinder and I’m not expecting much better this round,” he texted.
In an interview with the commander, a foreign legion fighter known as “the dentist,” said that on April 26 around 6 p.m., the two Canadians were part of a larger group of soldiers tasked with holding an important supply route to Bakhmut.
The commander told CBC News that the unit came under intense artillery fire from Russian forces. He said Porter and Zelenco and at least three other Ukrainian soldiers sought shelter in a fortified bunker but the bunker was immediately hit.
They were all killed.
“They were both very proud of what they did,” the commander said. “We’re like family. It’s like I lost a brother.”
Both men previously served in the Canadian Armed Forces but had left the army before joining the war in Ukraine. The commander said that the two had become close friends.
A photo provided to CBC News shows the men standing together in combat clothing.
An unofficial count by CBC News would make the Canadians the fourth and fifth to have died in combat since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
In Porter’s text to CBC News, he mentioned that he had endured terrible conditions in Bakhmut before.
“During the mission, [Porter] saving the lives of wounded soldiers despite often being under Russian small arms and artillery fire while doing so,” said a statement released to Porter’s friends and family.
It was then to Note that the commander of Ukraine has recommended him for a medal for “valiant action” near Bakhmut.
A statement from Zelenco’s friends posted on the GoFundMe page said Zelenco is “very excited” to serve in Ukraine and has served two tours there.
Porter previously worked in Ukraine as a member of the city’s search and rescue team based in Kharkiv last spring where CBC News first met him.
At the time, he was the team medic and described several close calls in which he escaped a Russian attack.
“War is atrocity,” he said at the time, although he said he hoped to return to Ukraine “in a different role.”
The family statement said Porter felt he “needed to do more” and when he was back in Ukraine his military skills and experience earned him a promotion to the rank of Junior Sergeant.
The Ukrainian army is expected to be days away from launching a major counter-offensive against Russian forces and the battle to capture Bakhmut is seen as decisive.
Zelenco’s body was taken from the battlefield and is now in Kharkiv. A GoFundMe page shows $30,000 has been raised to cover funeral and transportation costs.
Porter’s body was not immediately recovered but his commander indicated that members of his unit hoped it would be done soon.
Paul Hughes, a longtime Calgary community volunteer now based in Kharkiv where he runs several charities, said he would help the family return to Canada.
“There are people all over the world who have been motivated to come here and do humanitarian work or like Kyle and Cole who have come and died,” Hughes said.
“He did everything he could to defend Ukraine, which is a wonderful and wonderful country.”
Ukraine claims hundreds of Russian mercenaries, mobilized prisoners and regular soldiers are killed or wounded every day in fierce street fighting. However, the Ukrainian military has also suffered heavy casualties.
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