'I couldn't stay home': Canadian with no prior military training joins Ukrainian forces

In the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Adam Oake, a Canadian with no prior military training, sold all of his Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia to buy a plane ticket.

Speaking to CTV National News from a secret military training location in western Ukraine, Oake recalled watching the news of Russia’s invasion back in February 2022 and feeling compelled to get involved.

“Seeing how many innocent people were being brutalized, I couldn’t stay home knowing that I could do something to help,” said Oake.

Two months ago, he joined Ukraine’s 25th Airborne Brigade. In the coming weeks, he’ll be deployed into battle for the first time as a drone operator.

The 34-year-old Toronto native first spoke to CTV News in the summer of 2022, while he was in Ukraine volunteering as an aid worker with an international NGO. He spoke again with CTV News when he returned to Canada in January of 2023 as he tried to decompress from the trauma he’d endured delivering food and medicine to the front lines.

Now, more than a year and a half later, speaking from a dark tent, Oake says he’s willing to sacrifice his life in an effort to help Ukraine win what has now become a war of attrition.

“I've totally accepted the possibility that I will most likely be wounded. And while it’s unlikely, I could be killed. There is that possibility as well.”

Canadian Adam Oake poses for an image in his Ukrainian military uniform. (Image courtesy of Adam Oake)

This week, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSS) released chilling video that shows the bodies of four men who it claims are foreign fighters. The video, taken in Russia’s Bryansk region near Ukraine’s northern border, also shows a cache of weapons and Canadian flags beside the bodies, which are lying on a blue tarp. On Tuesday, Global Affairs Canada confirmed that one Canadian was killed in Russia.

Retired Major General David Fraser says the longer the war goes on, the more grim the situation is becoming for Ukraine.

“President Zelinsky will take anyone who're prepared to fight for Ukraine. It doesn't matter, he's got a shortage of soldiers. They’ve been fighting for a couple years, most of the soldiers who started fighting have most likely been wounded or killed, and Russia keeps putting in more and more (soldiers), this is a dire situation for Ukraine,” says Fraser.

Adam Oake isn’t Ukrainian, and he openly admits he has no previous combat experience. He enlisted with the Ukrainian military in September, where he’s been training alongside multiple other Canadians who are all preparing to be deployed in the coming weeks.

Canadian Ukrainian Soldier Adam Oake speaks to Senior Correspondent for CTV National News Adrian Ghobrial.

When asked if he feels that three or four months of military training will adequately prepare him for the war that he’s about to enter, the soft-spoken Canadian doesn’t hesitate in his response, “Absolutely, the training here has been fantastic.” He says the physical training has been solid, along with the arms and survival training.

Though the reality, according to retired Major General David Fraser, is that Oake and other drone operators are at significant risk on the battlefield as they've increasingly become a high-priority target.

“He’s at an incredible risk, both sides (Ukraine and Russia) look for these drone operators and try and take them out. These operators are absolutely a top priority to find and kill.”