Two volunteer drivers died in Ukraine while delivering aid from Alberta

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“Volunteers are heroes. They know the risk they face in making these deliveries. They are literally saving lives by making these deliveries. ”

Former MLA Thomas Lukashuk says two volunteers in Ukraine helping to deliver donations from Alberta were killed during a trip on Friday, April 29, 2022. Photo by Twitter

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Former MLA Thomas Lukashuk says two volunteers in Ukraine helping to deliver donations from Alberta were killed during a trip this week.

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Lukashuk, along with former Prime Minister Ed Stelmakh, is helping to raise funds and purchase humanitarian supplies for Ukrainians amid Russia’s invasion of their country. He wrote on social media on Saturday that two drivers believed to be Polish and Ukrainian citizens had been killed while trying to deliver supplies near Mariupol.

The port city of Mariupol is almost entirely occupied by Russian forces, and many Ukrainian civilians have been captured there in desperate conditions after several failed attempts to create a humanitarian evacuation corridor. The city has suffered heavy shelling in recent days.

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Lukashuk said in an interview Saturday that he had heard from a network of people helping coordinate supplies that drivers had been killed in a bomb attack. He said the deaths took place sometime on Friday and learned about them on Friday night.

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“This is a direct connection with us in Edmonton. “When we were collecting goods in the Polish Hall for two days and our volunteers were packing them in a warehouse, those were the boxes,” he said.

“These were boxes that were packed here, carefully, that were captured.”

UPDATE: Ed Stelmach and I are saddened and angry to have to inform you that two drivers believed to be Ukrainian and Polish were killed by Russians while delivering some of our supplies to United for Ukraine in Mariopol . They are heroes. #Ukraine #cdnpoli #abpoli pic.twitter.com/NutqUGxLtG

– Thomas A. Lukashuk (@LukaszukAB) April 30, 2022

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Lukashuk said there were details he could not discuss publicly in the name of the safety of Ukrainian volunteers, but they usually give updates when supplies are successfully delivered, which has been the case so far.

“Volunteers are heroes. They know the risk they face in making these deliveries. They are literally saving lives by making these deliveries. “

So far, Lukashuk and Stelmakh have managed to arrange for a passenger plane to be loaded with medical supplies and other equipment for Ukraine, and three full-size sea cans of goods have also been shipped to Europe from Canada.

There will be more soon, but Lukashuk said efforts are focused on raising funds to buy supplies in Europe instead of sending them here.

“This will not slow down efforts on this side of the ocean,” he said.

“I think the volunteers on the other side are much more determined to keep doing what they’re doing.”

UPDATE: Our donations from United for Ukraine of medical equipment, dry food and hygiene items were delivered by Ukrainian drivers today all the way to Lutsk, Zhytomyr, Kryvyi Rih and the last of them went to Kherson and Mariupol region. More containers on the way. # Украина #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/l7sBckLSjE

– Thomas A. Lukashuk (@LukaszukAB) April 27, 2022