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<\/p>\nThe hall at St. Vladimir\u2019s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Calgary is packed. Three gigantic, artistically painted wooden Easter eggs dominate the stage. Heavily accented voices rise and fall amid the chatter as attendees nibble on poppyseed cake and other Ukrainian delicacies. No one wears the bright blue-and-yellow of the war\u2019s early days, but embroidered vyshyvanky peek from under sweaters and jackets.<\/p>\n
These are the faithful still committed to Ukraine\u2019s cause. They came to hear Michael Bociurkiw \u2014 a Canadian journalist of Ukrainian heritage now based in Odesa \u2014 deliver a sobering assessment of a war grinding into its fifth year. A familiar face on CNN and the BBC, Bociurkiw has become one of the most credible English-language voices on the ground. On this night, he mixes high-level strategy with raw human cost, offering unvarnished predictions about Putin, Xi and Trump \u2014 and a blunt warning to his Canadian compatriots.<\/p>\n
China, he reports, has gone beyond secretly shipping drone components labelled \u201crefrigerator parts\u201d to Russia. Beijing is now training Russian forces in drone warfare, electronic warfare and explosives. Beijing denies it, of course.<\/p>\n
Yet Bociurkiw\u2019s most urgent message isn\u2019t geopolitical intrigue. It is a warning about the quiet hollowing out of Ukraine itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillions have left \u2014 many of them young and able-bodied,\u201d he tells the room. Heads nod. \u201cYou see them here in Calgary.\u201d His stark assessment: many will never return permanently. That poses a devastating problem for postwar reconstruction: You can pledge billions to rebuild Ukraine, but without human capital, the effort collapses.<\/p>\n
Nearly 300,000 Ukrainians arrived in Canada under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program between 2022 and 2024. As emergency visas expire and extensions run until 2027, only about 2,500 have secured permanent residency. In Germany, Bociurkiw reports, \u201casylum seekers at the start of the war are now beginning to qualify for citizenship there.\u201d Here, the pathway remains murky.<\/p>\n
A 2025 survey found just three per cent had returned to Ukraine. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada still officially expects most to go home once fighting stops. Bociurkiw questions that assumption.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re here on temporary status. They can work, but it\u2019s very, very difficult,\u201d he says. Canada must decide soon what to do with them. Yet returnees face grim realities: \u201cPeople are not going to come back if no inch of Ukraine is safe \u2014 and I don\u2019t use those words lightly. That\u2019s what Ukrainians tell me they feel.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one voluntarily leaves their home,\u201d he continues. \u201cSo the question is, if we give them citizenship, does that make it easier \u2014 or harder \u2014 for them to return? I\u2019ll be honest, that needs to be decided.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bociurkiw turns to broader Canadian policy with pointed suggestions.<\/p>\n
First, expel Russian diplomats. Every other G7 country has done so since 2022; Canada has not. Bociurkiw dismisses fears of reciprocity: \u201cWe know Russia is waging hybrid warfare here, including election meddling. Our friends in Ottawa seem to think if we expel theirs, they\u2019ll expel ours and we\u2019ll lose so much. We can get other countries to represent us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, he voices frustration over social media. Many younger CUAET arrivals post TikToks critical of Canadian housing, homelessness, drug use, cost of living and even ethnic tensions. Bociurkiw pushes back online, urging gratitude.<\/p>\n
His worry is twofold: the clips hand Russia propaganda ammunition, and they gift Canadian immigration skeptics powerful visuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cCriticism is normal in a democracy,\u201d he says, \u201cbut our parents came here with almost nothing and endured tough times.\u201d If you truly despise it here, he adds, there are no exit controls; you can leave.<\/p>\n
Third, and more measured, he urges Canada to help rebuild Ukraine\u2019s shattered independent media. Martial law forced channels into a single 24\/7 \u201cUnited News\u201d telethon \u2014 patriotic, repetitive and increasingly unwatched. Advertising is banned, funding is strained, and many journalists have been killed, drafted or fled. \u201cI feel we\u2019re not far from Ukrainian media joining the Afghans, Persians and others who have fled their countries,\u201d he warns.<\/p>\n
Bociurkiw speaks from lived experience. In Odesa \u2014 once Ukraine\u2019s most entrepreneurial city \u2014 the energy is fading. Friends are leaving; restaurants, bars and businesses are closing for lack of staff and customers; men hide indoors to avoid mobilization sweeps. Drones strike closer: one hit an apartment building just 500 metres from his home recently. His \u201cgreen zone\u201d near foreign consulates no longer feels safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn war,\u201d he says quietly, \u201cyou find your senses become very well-attuned. Your hearing, your sense of smell, eyesight.\u201d The drones flying overhead are louder, faster, more powerful now.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou start to see this hollowing out of people\u2019s eyes because they can\u2019t sleep,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s the loss of spirit\u2026 the mental health collapse that\u2019s very difficult to portray in a media interview.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Journalist Michael Bociurkiw has become one of the most credible English-language voices on the ground in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
When will it end? Bociurkiw\u2019s answer is blunt: \u201cWhen either Putin decides he can declare victory, thus ensuring his political survival \u2026 or he gets assassinated.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine is still fighting,\u201d he assures the room. \u201cIt will fight to the end. This is an existential war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Events following his spring talk in Calgary attest to Ukraine\u2019s resilience. Earlier this week, smoke rose over St. Petersburg just as the Kremlin-hosted \u201cRussian Davos\u201d \u2014 the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum \u2014 was opening. Ukrainian drones had struck a nearby oil terminal and a naval hub. In Washington, \u201ca small but significant band of Republican lawmakers broke ranks to advance both an Iran war powers resolution and legislation that could unlock fresh U.S. military aid for Ukraine,\u201d Bociurkiw shares in an early June media briefing. And in Brussels, the EU moved against four Chinese companies accused of fuelling Russia\u2019s war machine, doubling down on its strategy of targeting Moscow\u2019s enablers.<\/p>\n
Yet in his talk in Calgary, Bociurkiw took great care to challenge Western narratives of endless resilience. No society can endure this level of trauma indefinitely; people are reaching a breaking point. The drip-feed of Western support has prolonged the conflict without delivering decisive advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s the missiles, either defensive or offensive military kit, or really hardcore sanctions,\u201d he says, \u201cI think many Western leaders are actually still afraid of Putin \u2026 we\u2019re afraid that if we push him too hard, he\u2019ll do the worst and reach for the nuclear button.\u201d<\/p>\n
His message landed with quiet force in Calgary. The diaspora wants to help, but sentimental solidarity isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
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