This soldier from northern Ontario is overseas fighting for the Ukrainian forces

A Timmins mother says her family is doing its best to stay positive as her daughter is bringing her military backgropund to the fight in Ukraine.

Colleen Ludgate's daughter, Brittney Shki-Giizis, joined the Canadian military with the intent to go into active combat.

"My first reaction would have been to try and convince her otherwise," Ludgate said. 

"But I know Brittney, and when she has set her mind on something, there's no stopping her."

"Most of all, we want her to know that we are here supporting her, not trying to convince her to stop doing what she feels called to do," Ludgate said.

Shki-Giizis rose to the rank of captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, but still had her hopes set on joining the infantry.

Last year, she travelled to Poland and was part of a team that trained Ukrainian soldiers on how to use tanks the Canadian military had donated.

"When she was there, she just absolutely fell in love with the people and the culture and everything about it," Ludgate said.

After that experience, she decided to take a leave of absence from the CAF and joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, a military unit of ground forces in the country made up of foreign volunteers.

Since she's been deployed in the country, she has seen combat most days.

"Every now and then we can actually get on a phone call with her," Ludgate said.

"But phone calls are a bit difficult because they're very choppy and there's a lot of noise in the background. You can hear the explosions and you just wonder, 'How is she just sitting there so calmly amongst all these explosions?"

Ludgate said her daughter could be deployed in Ukraine for as long as five years, but is likely to return to Canada after two years.

"When she gets up in the in the morning and she climbs into her tank and she's driving out to the combat zone, for her, that's the greatest feeling in the world," Ludgate said.