This Albertan signed up to fight in Ukraine. He was nearly killed by friendly fire

As David Rauser stood outside the entrance of a makeshift Russian bunker in eastern Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region in November, the Alberta former firefighter-turned-soldier clutched his automatic weapon. He peered into the shelter that was mostly obscured by a large plastic tarp. 

Inside, Russian voices cut through the darkness, asking who was there. With his second-in-command just behind him, Rauser yelled out in Russian, ordering those inside to put their hands up and surrender. When there was no response, he opened fire. 

A video taken from a camera attached to his helmet recorded the next moments as gunfire erupted outside of the bunker, aimed right at him. 

But in the chaos, Rauser, 40, was struck by friendly fire. 

“One of the guys on my team — he was new to the team, and I don't know why, but he mistook me for a Russian," he said. “He shot me once in the head and once in the arm.”

Rauser was shot on Nov. 10, 2025, in the most intense mission of his 10 months serving in Ukraine with the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. He often worked as a part of a small unit composed of conscripts, professional soldiers and fellow foreign fighters. He spoke with CBC News from Ternopil in western Ukraine.

Now out of the hospital, he is waiting for paperwork before returning, perhaps only temporarily, to Canada.

It’s not clear how many Canadian citizens are fighting for Ukraine, but more than a dozen have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. (Those deaths include both soldiers and a few paramedics.) Besides Rauser, CBC is aware of two Canadian citizens who were recently injured in combat, and are currently hospitalized in western Ukraine. 

"War is really scary. It's terrifying," he said. "It's a little bit of a miracle I got shot in the head that I'm able to sit here. I'm thankful for that."

Over the next several minutes after he was shot, the video recording shows Rauser, blinded by the wound, nearly stumble into the bunker before a team member grabs him and begins first aid. The American soldier who shot him can be heard apologizing, pleading for him not to die. 

Days later, when he woke up strapped onto a hospital bed in Kyiv, Rauser didn’t remember much of his medical evacuation from the east. He was later told he had been tied down to prevent movement. His head injury was severe, and he was missing part of his skull. 

He spent nearly two months in hospital, first in Kyiv, then in two separate facilities in western Ukraine.

His team member later told him that a bullet had struck him just under the rim of his helmet, leaving the gear completely intact but shattering a front section of his skull.

On on his upper left shoulder is a large scar from where the second bullet hit him.