Retired astronaut delivers ambulances to Ukraine, praises Canada's stance

Retired NASA astronaut Terry Virts recently completed a two-week volunteer mission delivering more than 60 ambulances, emergency vehicles and small buses to Ukrainian defence forces. The former U.S. Air Force colonel, who has flown two space missions, travelled from Texas to Ukraine for the effort. He spoke about the mission earlier this month as drivers delivered the final vehicles to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Virts said he honours Ukrainians for standing up to what he called evil and bullies.

"I love Ukraine, though I'm not Ukrainian, but I like freedom and I hate evil," Virts said. "I hate bullies and you know, the fact that the Ukrainians are willing to stand up to them I honour them." He described the scene in Kyiv on a Monday afternoon following a major attack. "Look at this. There's people walking in the street, there's the pharmacy, and the grocery store, and another pharmacy, and traffic," Virts said. "The Russians they're not gonna win, Ukraine is not gonna give in, but their lives are, you know, severely affected."

The previous evening and early morning had seen more than 15 drone and missile attacks on the city. Virts said he heard about a dozen large explosions and a lot of air defence activity. He said the stories he heard from Ukrainians evoked different emotions than his spaceflight tales. He described having dinner with a widow whose husband was killed by Russian forces. "She gave me apples from her house and she spent the whole time just talking about her husband," Virts said. "I was talking about the future, and she's like, I don't care about the future, she said, I have no future."

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Virts said it is a severe blow to thousands of Ukrainians who have lost husbands and sons, and that even survivors have severe trauma. He recounted meeting an F-16 pilot at an Air Force memorial who pointed out dozens of pilots killed by the Russians. Virts predicted Ukraine will be stronger in a hundred years while Russia becomes a tiny shell remnant of itself. He criticized American policy, saying America is helping Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Trump decided to to fund Putin's war machine by releasing and by lowering sanctions," Virts said. "Yeah, we need to slap ourselves and take a cold shower and wake up."

He contrasted this with Canada's position. "Canada, has a clear, clear eye view of the world," Virts said. He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the Winston Churchill of this era and said the West needs a Churchill to get Ukraine the support it needs. "The closest is the leader of Canada," Virts added. He reflected on the broader relationship between the two North American neighbours. "We all need to be part of the hands across the border, not taking from across the border," he said. "We love Canada. All of Canada is our friends and we can talk and compare good and bad points but at the end of the day we are neighbours and will always be."

Virts also shared details of his spaceflight career, which included piloting the space shuttle Endeavour and commanding the International Space Station. He highlighted the role of Canadian technology. "So that big 15-metre arm hanging out there, without that, we could not have built the ISS or have been resupplied," Virts said. "Yeah, that Canadian thing enabled ISS to be built." He noted he trained to operate the robotic arm at a Canadian Space Agency site in Montreal. Virts said he no longer wears his NASA patch for public recognition but still enjoys sharing stories of his experiences. The conversation about Ukraine took place as the volunteer group was disbanding, with members heading their separate ways after delivering the vehicles.

With files from Cowichan Valley Citizen