Paul Hughes had one of the hardest times of his life when he put a Canadian flag on the body bag of an Alberta soldier who was killed in a bloody battle in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Hughes carefully drove the ambulance carrying Kyle Porter’s body for more than four hours from an area near Bakhmout where the Canadian and another soldier, Cole Zelenco, were killed in heavy fighting last week.

“I put the Canadian flag on him. That was the moment that shook me the most during my 14 months in Ukraine,” Mr Hughes said in a telephone interview from Kharkiv.

Global Affairs Canada said in an email it was aware of reports that two Canadians had died in Ukraine but could not release any more information due to confidentiality concerns.

However, families and helpers have identified the two fallen Canadians.

Cole Zelenco, 21, was from St. Catharines, Ontario and was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, according to his mother, Lynn Baxter.

M^Me Baxter said his son traveled to the war-torn country for the first time last April and returned to Canada three months later. In October he then began a second stay.

“He was very committed to protecting Ukrainians and he just wanted to give them as much stability as possible,” she said.

M^Me Baxter spoke to his son for the last time two days before his death, but the topic of heavy fighting in the eastern Donbass region was avoided.

“He hid a lot of things from me just so I wouldn’t worry,” she admitted.

M^Me Baxter doesn’t know much about the attack that took his son’s life, but was told he didn’t suffer.

An honoring ceremony is taking place in Ukraine, said Mr.^Me Baxter and his son’s body should be back in Canada in two weeks. The family hopes to hold a funeral on May 19.

The Ukrainian-Canadian Congress sent its condolences to the families and friends of the two men on social media.

” [Ils] will be remembered for their courage and sacrifice in defending the freedom and peace of Ukraine in Europe,” the message said.

Though heartbroken, Ms.^Me Baxter is proud that her son stood up for what he believed in.

“Cole has done more in his short 21 years than many people have done in 50 or 60,” she said.

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