As the war in Ukraine rages on, one Saskatoon building maintenance worker is in Kyiv helping residents rebuild.
Nick Bettin is not the first Saskatoon resident to leave the safety of Canada for the war embattled country. But he is the first to plant Canadian flags in Independence Square in Kyiv to commemorate two Saskatchewan men who died defending Ukraine against Russia.
Bettin is working as a volunteer, clearing debris and repairing buildings. This is his second trip to Kyiv. He said he felt compelled to “jump into the deep end,” in part because of his Ukrainian heritage, but also because of the suffering and devastation in the country.
“Something just clicked one day,” he said. “I fix things for a living. So maybe I can go fix things in Ukraine.”
Bettin’s first trip to Ukraine’s capital was in 2024.
“There was a lot of holes in buildings, tank traps and bunkers everywhere, which obviously I’d never seen in my life before,” Bettin said.
“But when I did my research before I came last year, I talked to other volunteers, one woman from Canada actually, and they warned me about it. So it didn’t come as a surprise.”
Now in his second stint as a volunteer, he felt compelled to honour Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in the war against Russia. He did so at a “make-shift” memorial in Independence Square in the centre of Kyiv.
“Essentially there’s a flag planted for every soldier that’s deceased and there are a surprising amount of foreign flags there,” Bettin said.
Two Saskatchewan men who died serving as volunteers in Ukraine’s International Legion will be posthumously awarded the Ukrainian Canadian Sacrifice Medal by Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada (UWVA).
The men served as volunteers and “gave their lives for Ukraine’s freedom,” according to the UCC.
Bettin was moved by this, and sent the UCC his offer to plant Canadian flags for the men.
Bettin planted multiple flags with words of love for the two brave Saskatchewan men in Independence Square.
Soldier Joseph Hildebrand, from Gouldtown, was killed in action at age 33 on Nov. 6, 2022, near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in east Ukraine.
Winton “Bud” Hardy, of Outlook volunteered as a combat medic providing assistance to Ukraine’s soldiers on the front lines, according to the UCC. The 41-year-old was killed in June 2024, also in the Donetsk region.
Bettin asked their families in Canada what they wanted written on the flags and covered the flags with those words.
“I have a lot of respect for the foreign fighters especially, not to say everyone else isn’t brave, but the foreign fighters are choosing to leave stability and safety and comfort to come lay their life down, basically, for the Ukrainians,” Bettin said.
He said that despite Russian missiles and drones continuously causing destruction, Ukrainians still have to go about their daily duties.
That, Bettin said, is why Ukrainians deeply value foreign workers.
“We get a lot of appreciation. It’s heartwarming actually,” Bettin said.
“No matter how much the locals want to help, they still have to go to work and go to their day jobs and pay bills. Whereas when a foreigner comes in, we came here for the purpose of helping. We’re free all week to do what needs doing.”
Bettin is putting his construction skills to use daily.
“We’re boarding windows at a school. It seemed the drone targeted an electrical transformer and the blast wave knocked out windows in a large school. So yeah, the job I worked on was just boarding the windows until new permanent ones come in.”
Bettin encourages Canadians to help in any way they can, including writing to the media asking for more coverage on the war in Ukraine.
“Write to our politicians asking for more support to Ukraine,” Bettin said.
“And come here. If you can handle it, if you have the skills in construction, if you have the funds to do so, come help.”
Bettin will return to his wife and children in mid-August, after spending a month volunteering in Ukraine.
