'I'm going to fight': Quebec man leaves family to help defend Ukraine

A 47-year-old musician and father living in Montreal's suburbs isn't the obvious choice for a soldier.

Mykhailo Sulyma admits he's never borne arms and has no fighting experience. Sulyma is a choral singer who has been living in Pointe-Claire, with his wife and three children, for the last eight years.

But on Monday evening, Sulyma waved his family goodbye at the Montreal airport and boarded a flight back to his home country of Ukraine, saying it's his duty now to go to the front lines in the war with Russia.

"I'm going to fight," he told Noovo Info in an interview at the airport.

"That's my role here... I need to protect my homeland."

The Sulyma family came to Canada in the wake of Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, they said. The children are now teen and preteen age, two girls and a boy, and they've spent a great portion of their lives in Canada.

But the whole family, along with several friends who came to see him off, said they supported his decision as they helped him get ready for his flight.

"We can't eat, we can't sleep... we can't breathe," said his wife. "We have to do something."

One of his daughters said she was "a little" afraid for Sulyma, but she and her siblings also want him to go.

"I'm proud of our father because he's going to fight for our country," the girl said.

Sulyma's wife and two of his children speak about the family's decision. (Photo: Noovo Info)

Sulyma admitted it was "very difficult." But he said his biggest fear wasn't fighting, even with no experience, he told Noovo Info.

"No, my fear is of staying here and doing nothing. That's fear," he said.

Sulyma plans to go to Poland and cross the border from there, going to his hometown, he said.

Sulyma puts up a fist as he leaves family and friends, while they shout a chant for Ukraine. (Photo: Noovo Info)

He was travelling with a suitcase full of bandages and other medical supplies to give "people who are also helping our country," he explained.

In his town, where he still has many friends and family, "almost everybody" is getting ready to fight, he said.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked not just Ukrainians, but "citizens of the world," to help fight, Sulyma said that made an impression.

"I was waiting for that signal," he said.

"We have to do this. We must."

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