Canadian English teacher hitchhikes 800 kilometres to escape Ukraine
A Canadian English teacher has made it home to the Ottawa region after travelling about 800 kilometres to escape Ukraine.
Brian Blair is one of the two million people estimated to have fled Ukraine during the invasion of Russian forces.
Blair, who has taught English in Ukraine since 2013, said he woke up to the sounds of bombs in the distance and knew he had to leave. He left his life in a Ukrainian village with a single duffel bag, posting photos to social media in case anyone spotted him on the way and could offer help.
Blair arrived at the Ottawa train station Sunday night. Although he said he was grateful to be greeted and embraced by friends, he was also plagued with guilt remembering people he left behind.
"A lot of my friends couldn’t escape. They have to stay," he said. "And that’s really quite difficult that they can’t leave, and they have to sit there and watch their city get destroyed."
Blair said he travelled about 800 kilometres to leave Ukraine, a journey that saw him hopping between cities and villages, hitchhiking for rides, and walking. He acknowledged he wasn’t sure he would make it.
"I said to myself—I said this out loud—'I may not get out of this, but I’m 48 years old. I’ve had a pretty good life. I’ve travelled. I’ve seen a lot of things, right?' I said, 'I may not get out of this alive. … It’s possible I could die.'"
The Russian invasion has caused a humanitarian crisis, with long-range missiles causing widespread damage and leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians with no heat, water, electricity and limited means of escape.
A Red Cross official called scenes in the port city of Mariupol "absolutely apocalyptic" on Monday.
Blair’s journey included a long wait at the border trying to get into Poland. Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country. But Blair said he held his Canadian passport in his hand when approaching border officials, which helped him.
"A Polish soldier looked at me and he looked at my passport and he looked again and then he said to me 'Are you from Canada?' And I said 'Yes, I'm from Canada.' And then he said something in Polish to another soldier and the soldier came over and said 'Are you alone?' And he looked at my passport and I said 'Yes, I'm by myself.' And they said 'OK, you can come in.'"
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.