‘Fight for democracy’: Saskatchewan man who died in Ukraine is being honoured

WATCH: Saskatoon residents paid tribute to a Saskatchewan soldier who died helping to keep Ukraine free.

As the war in Ukraine rages on past the three-year mark, there are Canadians who have made the ultimate sacrifice and died helping to keep the country free.

One of those brave souls was from Saskatchewan and is being honoured this weekend.

“I am very proud of him. Yes, he’s a hero,” said Will Hardy about his brother, Bud Hardy, who died in combat in eastern Ukraine in June. His given name was Winton, but according to Will, he always went by Bud. They both grew up in Saskatoon and then moved to Outlook.

Losing his older brother to a Russian attack is hard to take.

“I’d cry to him, and I’d be like, ‘why are you going, man? It’s not what you think it is. This isn’t a video game.’ He just looked me square in the eye and said, ‘I want to do what’s right. I want to fight for democracy and help innocent people,‘” Hardy told CTV News.

When Russia’s war on Ukraine started in 2022, Bud Hardy, who was a cadet as a boy until he was 18, expressed interest in going overseas to help in Ukraine. He even bought military gear to take with him. He was 41 years old when he died and didn’t have Ukrainian ancestry.

“My brother has always been the type of guy who wants to help – you know, he would help anybody who asks for help,” he said.

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Back in Canada last June, Will Hardy got the devastating news from Global Affairs that his brother was killed by a drone. He had just completed three months of training in Ukraine and was helping others when he was killed.

“I was told my brother had evacuated three critically injured soldiers before that happened in the same battle,” he said.

Bud is one of three Canadians considered missing in action and 10 Canadians who have been killed in action in the past three years. Two others are from Saskatchewan.

A special medal ceremony is being held in Outlook on Sunday for Hardy.

“I think it’s a very honourable thing that a person can do – a Canadian who sees the inhumanity and injustice of the Russian invasion,” Taras Jackiw, chair of the sacrifice medal committee, said.

According to Jackiw, the sacrifice medal features maple leaves and the Ukrainian symbol, the tryzub. Jackiw says a ceremony will be held for another Saskatchewan fallen soldier in May.

Joseph Hildebrand is from Swift Current. There are about 500 foreign soldiers helping in Ukraine, according to Jackiw.

The Hardy brothers were born exactly one year apart, and the younger brother is still trying to process the death.

“How can someone walk into someone’s worst nightmare and still have the ability to evacuate three soldiers while everyone’s getting blown up around you? It’s just unfathomable to me.”

The medal for Bud Hardy will be presented to Will and his mom.