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Ukraine: Canadians one of largest groups in foreign legion – CTV News

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Canadians are currently “one of the most numerous nationalities” represented among the fighters in Ukraine’s foreign legion, a spokesperson tells CTV National News.

CTV National News London Bureau Correspondent Daniele Hamamdjian spoke to Damien Magrou, spokesperson for the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, about the unit’s goals and what it expects of its recruits.

Although Magrou says he can’t comment on how many people have joined the legion, he confirmed Canadians, many of Ukrainian descent, comprise one of the largest groups in the unit after the United States and Britain.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of an international legion in late February, a few days after Russia launched its invasion of the country.

Some Canadians have since chosen to travel abroad to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.

The Ukrainian government estimates some 20,000 foreigners have joined the legion, most from western countries.

“So our working processes are such that if people have no military experience, if they don’t know the rules of engagement, if they don’t have basic knowledge of international humanitarian law, they have no place in the legion,” Magrou said, noting that all non-combat support roles have been filled.

“So we’ll thank you for their offer and we’ll send them on their way home.”

Magrou says while some, including himself, with no military training have joined the legion’s support staff, now, he says, anyone wanting to join but lacking military experience is being turned away.

“We now have a fully staffed support team and we don’t need anymore people without military experience,” he said.

“What we need are experienced, seasoned fighters.”

‘IT’S NOT A HOLIDAY CAMP’

Some who joined the legion have chosen to leave and been discharged, a choice Magrou says the legion understands.

Although recruits sign a contract to stay for the duration of Ukraine’s martial law, or as long as the country is at war, he says no one’s passports have been taken and those who wish to leave, for personal reasons or otherwise, are not being held against their will.

“Some people come to Ukraine and want to fight, of which we’re very thankful for, but some people seem to have the impression that they just get here, we’re going to give them a rifle and send them right away. That’s not the way it works in an organization like a standing army that has procedures, that has systems and we need to make sure that the legion as an organization functions adequately and is able to actually make a difference on the front,” Magrou said.

Commenting on the Russian attack on a military facility in western Ukraine that killed 35 people on Sunday, Magrou says no one from the legion was hit, but some nevertheless decided to leave afterward.

The strike did injure a Canadian man, however, according to the organization Fight For Ukraine.

“It is a war zone, it’s not a holiday camp,” Magrou said.

“We will do everything we can to keep our boys safe, that’s the reason why we created this legion, to do it within structured frameworks, but we can’t guarantee anyone’s safety. It’s a war zone.”

Meanwhile, some whom CTV National News spoke to say they have been frustrated by the slow pace that the legion is moving in.

Magrou acknowledged that some of these individuals have gone their own way, but stressed that the army cannot answer for the safety of foreign fighters who join volunteer battalions.

“If people can’t have the patience to wait to be formed in proper units and platoons that have proper offices, that are properly equipped, then they might leave and do as you say, but I wouldn’t advise it,” he said.

Asked about some governments, including in Canada, advising their citizens not to travel to Ukraine, Magrou says, “people are adults, they can make their own decisions.”

“There is a reason Zelensky asked for help. It’s because we need all the help we can. We all see the images on the front every day and if people think they can make a difference, if they have combat experience, then please do join us,” he said.

“What your government advises you to do or not to do is not really for the legion to comment on. Obviously, I understand that western governments are worried about the safety of their citizens. It would be much easier for them if no one went.”

Watch the full video with CTV National News London Bureau Correspondent Daniele Hamamdjian at the top of the article.

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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