Russian tank killed a Canadian fighter who was trying to carry a fallen comrade to safety in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, grieving members of his battalion say.Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois, 31, from Montreal, died alongside three other foreign fighters on July 18, after his company was ambushed by a Russian tank near the front line in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.It is believed to be the first Canadian death in active combat during the 2022 Russian invasion.“Emile brought humanity to the team,” says one of his comrades, who is known as “Fin.”“He was very kind.
The group just won’t be the same without him.” Propaganda or providence — one Ukrainian’s wild story of survival Sirois’ body now lies in a morgue in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, awaiting instructions from the Canadian Embassy on how it should be repatriated.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces, which Sirois was serving, has offered to pay for the cost of the repatriation.Sirois, a paramedic with experience in the French Foreign Legion, was killed alongside Luke “Skywalker” Lucyszyn and Bryan Young, both Americans, and Edvard Selander Patrignani of Sweden.
The men were part of an international battalion within the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.Global News spoke to comrades of Sirois’, who was fondly referred to as “Beaver,” at an unofficial memorial for the four fallen soldiers at a downtown restaurant in Kyiv on Wednesday.Two of the men had temporarily discharged themselves from hospital to pay their respects — one with an IV catheter still taped to his hand.