'I know that I can die here': Two former Canadian soldiers describe life on the front lines in Ukraine, and why they're fighting

Canadian foreign legion fighters are on the ground in Ukraine. Two young men from Montreal in the war-torn country speak with CTV National News as they prepare to return to the front lines.

Fighting for freedom far from home. That’s where CTV National News finds two Canadians preparing for their second deployment to the front lines in Ukraine.

Connecting with fighters in an active war zone involves trust on both sides. Many soldiers from are concerned their identities and locations will be compromised.

Wary of Russia’s ability to track their movements and become targets, we’ve agreed to withhold the real names and location in Ukraine where we met two former Canadian Armed Forces members from Montreal.

For our interview, we travel down a muddy, bumpy rural backroad. As we arrive in a wooded area, they reveal their story and their call signs on the battlefield – Speedy and Tanto.

Both are young men in their twenties. The taller of the two, Tanto, says he decided to come to Ukraine after seeing videos of children on the news crossing the Polish border with only a passport and a teddy bear.

“I still have the image in my head right now,” he admits.

As for Speedy, he felt it was his duty, saying, “I wanted to help fight, help the population.”