Victoria man in Ukraine fears city he travelled to will soon be bombed
From a small apartment in an undisclosed neighbourhood of Lviv, Ukraine, Mark Preston-Horin recounts the moment he entered into the war-torn nation.
"I remember when I crossed the border into Ukraine," said Preston-Horin, of Victoria, B.C.
"There was literally four or five thousand people in a queue to get out. I was the only one walking in," he said.
The Vancouver Island man with deep family ties to Ukraine left Canada on March 5.
Medical expertise made Preston-Horin think he would be in high demand in Ukraine, but on the ground and amid the chaos of war his assumptions have been proven wrong.
"It's tough to be here and knowing my hands are tied. It's really, really tough," he told CTV News Vancouver Island on Friday.
Since he arrived in Lviv, he has been trying to help in anyway he can, but he says because he is not a Ukrainian national his attempts are being thwarted.
"If you want to join the army you need to sign into the legion. If you sign into the legion you sign a contract with no closed date. You can't leave until they tell you," said Preston-Horin.
Unwilling to be held in Ukraine by a military contract, he turned to hospitals to aid the Ukrainian people.
Hospitals have also told him that because he isn’t a national he isn’t needed. Now, Preston-Horin has turned to government-backed volunteer forces outside the military sphere.
He says he is giving one group any support he can, but would not go into detail about the groups supported by the Ukrainian military.
Mark Preston-Horin, of Victoria, is pictured in Ukraine over Zoom. March 11, 2022 (CTV News)
Lviv is a small city in western Ukrainian, not far from the border to Poland.
Mark chose the location because it was a bastion for refugees needing help, and that it was expected to be spared from the horrors of war.
His expectations are now proving to be wrong.
"We are expecting to have some bombs and missiles in the next few days," he said on a Zoom call Friday.
As Russian forces amp up attacks and begin to target military airfields in western Ukraine, Mark says he is faced with a choice he never wanted to make.
"It's going to get to the point where it's pick up a gun or head to the border," said Preston-Horin.
"I'm not looking forward to that decision."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.