Montreal hockey player recounts harrowing escape from Ukraine

When Eliezer Sherbatov and his hockey team checked into their hotel in Donetsk last week, it wasn't the prospect of war that was on his mind.

The Montreal man is a left wing for HC Mariupol of the Ukrainian Hockey League. He was looking forward to the playoffs, but the season would come to an abrupt end in a way he had never expected.

"I'm sleeping. At 5 a.m., I hear ‘boom!’ You never hear that strong of a sound. It was so loud that I woke up," he said in an interview with TSN. "A couple of metres away, the war started and I cannot believe what is happening."

He said he could see a flash of light looking out of his hotel window.

Servicemen of the military commandant of Donetsk People's Republic stand next to a burned vehicle near a damaged by shelling building in Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

Russia bombed Ukraine and the 30-year-old Montrealer was caught right in the middle of the war.

"Guys 10 kilometres away, they called one of my teammates and he puts his phone [out] and you see the guns PA-PA-PA!" he said, mimicking the sound of gunfire. "You fear for your life every second."

'GO TO A BOMB SHELTER'

His coach suggested the team shelter in place, but if they wanted to escape it was their decision.

So Sherbatov reached out to the Canadian government for advice.

"I'm calling the Canadian embassy, no answer. I'm writing them an email and they write me back an automatic reply, ‘We will be with you shortly,’" he recounted.

"A day later, they sent me a copy/paste email that they sent to everybody: ‘Go to a bomb shelter.’"

A screenshot of Eliezer Sherbatov's message to the Canadian seeking help after the Russian invasion into Ukraine. (Submitted photo)

With his family in his thoughts and a fear of never seeing them again, he took a risk and jumped on a train heading west to Lviv.

"When you think you’re not going to come back, you’re never going to see your parents, the only thing you want to do now is be with your family the rest of your life," he said.

Once in Lviv, Sherbatov, who also holds Israeli citizenship, sought help from Israel's consulate, which helped him leave for Poland by bus.

From there he flew home to Canada, where he met his infant son for the first time.

"They were sleeping and my daughter was sleeping, and I just went to bed beside her. I hugged her and I just stayed there," he said, "just crying and stayed there.”