“Heartbreaking. Heart-wrenching. I’ve never seen, witnessed or experienced this much misery ever,” said Calgarian Paul Hughes as sirens warning of a possible Russian air attack screamed within the background.
During an interview with Global News, Hughes spoke of his experiences within the 4 years since Russia launched its war in Ukraine.
“People, they went to bed that night (Feb. 23, 2022) they usually woke as much as a nightmare, and that nightmare has not led to 4 years, especially here in places like Kharkiv and within the east.”
“What was once 1.5 million people is now all the way down to 600,000 to 700,000 people. Some 200,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) are here as well,” said Hughes during an interview from eastern Ukrainian city of Kharviv.
Ukrainian homes destroyed by the Russians. Only one example of the ‘misery’ Calgarian Paul Hughes says he’s witnessed since Russia invaded Ukraine 4 years ago.
Courtesy: H.U.G.S.
Hughes, who calls himself a pacifist, but one who “hates bullies,” volunteered to go to Ukraine in March of 2022 where he runs a grassroots Canadian charity called H.U.G.S. (Helping Ukraine Grassroots Support), delivering humanitarian aid to communities on the front line of the war.
“The frontline is 1,000, almost 1,000 kilometres long. From Calgary to almost Vancouver is the frontline,” said Hughes.
“Its also very sad and the extent of misery and the lack of life. The destroyed families. The destroyed homes. The destroyed communities. The Russians destroy all the things … they’ve demolished and annihilated each community along their march.”
Hughes says it’s the individuals who encourage him to remain within the face of a lot misery.
Asked what inspires him to stay in Ukraine after experiencing a lot misery, Hughes is quick to say ‘the people.”
Courtesy: H.U.G.S.
“I didn’t know that much about Ukraine once I got here here. I believe I’ve got my PhD in Ukrainian studies now.”
Get every day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“It’s just unrelenting and the those that are here and doing all the things they’ll to defend their country. I actually have all of the admiration and respect on the earth for the Ukrainian people,” said Hughes.
“The proven fact that these people stand up day-after-day, they keep going to work, they keep helping, they fight, they fight to carry it together, they keep attempting to have families and lift their children, they keep going to high school, they’re attempting to pursue their dreams and aspirations with the immense pressure of a war.”
In his social media posts from the front lines of the war in Ukraine, Calgarian Paul Hughes is commonly shown proudly wearing his Calgary Flames jersey.
Courtesy: H.U.G.S.
Hughes, who commonly shares his stories and pictures of the war through H.U.G.S. social media channels with the Canadian flag and his Calgary Flames jersey prominently on display, has also been personally affected by the war.
A number of months after he arrived in Ukraine, his son MacKenzie followed his father to the country where he worked alongside Ukrainian troops, organizing relief efforts and delivering humanitarian aid to displaced people along the front lines.
On Canada Day 2025, during a large Russian bombardment of Shahed drones on the eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, MacKenzie was severely injured but lucky to survive.
When he got word of the attack, Hughes rushed to be by his son’s side.
Relatively than return home to Canada, MacKenzie selected to remain in Ukraine to get better.
Paul Hughes’ son, who was working to distribute humanitarian aid along the front lines of the war in Ukraine, sustained serious burns on over a 3rd of his body during a Russian air attack on town of Zaporizhzhia on Canada Day 2025.
Courtesy: H.U.G.S.
“My son is a remarkable person. He’s a remarkable man. He’s gone to hell and back,” said Hughes.
“He had 30 per cent of his body with third degree burns from the Shahed attack. He’s recovering, he’s still doing physio, but he’s got a tremendous attitude, and he and I are working together again. He’s not giving up and he’s not giving upon Ukraine.”
Relatively than return to Canada to get better after being injured in a Russian air attack, Paul Hughes’ son MacKenzie selected to remain in Ukraine.
Source: H.U.G.S.
4 years into the war, Hughes says the necessity for humanitarian aid is huge.
“People have to eat they usually need a spot to live. There are a variety of domestic refugees here which are struggling. So we try to supply for as many as we possibly can,” said Hughes
Related News
Calgary military vet heads to Kyiv to affix fight against Russian military
Calgary man injured in Russian drone and missile attack in Ukraine
“There’s considerable unemployment. There is kind of a little bit of poverty due to how the economic machine here in Ukraine has been impacted. You’ll be able to only imagine if 70 per cent of the industry in Calgary shut down overnight and folks fled Calgary. It might be very tough for people to maintain surviving in Calgary — and Calgary and Kharkiv have a variety of similarities within the sense of the scale,” he said.
“Canadians haven’t any concept of the sacrifices which are being made here and what’s happening in real time to families and to people and to lives. That is an absolute nightmare and war is absolute hell here,” said Hughes.
Despite the pride they’ve of their country and their determination to survive, with the war now entering its fifth 12 months, Hughes said Ukrainians are anxious for peace.
“The persons are drained, they’re fatigued. No one wants peace greater than these people. They need peace. They absolutely want peace, but they’re not willing to do it at any cost,” said Hughes. “They’re not wanting to offer up their country for peace. So it needs to be something that has dignity and is lasting.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.