Montrealer’s mission to ensure truth about war in Ukraine isn’t silenced

Canadian citizen Luc Chénier established himself and his family in Montreal after a 17-day long journey of fleeing the war in Ukraine, the place he’s called home for the last 22 years.

“My body is here, but my mind and spirit is still firmly in Ukraine,” Chénier said.

Now that the Ontario native is safe in Canada, he’s up at all hours throughout the night on his computer and phone making sure he can still get his job done as CEO of the Kyiv Post, the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine.

He wants to ensure journalism and the truth prevail and that no one is silenced by the Russian invasion.

Credit: Luc Chénier / Facebook

“Every night, I start working at one in the morning,” he said. “I talk to all my reporters – just before this interview, I just finished my last reports of the day because they’re about to go to bed, so I’m just checking in.”

Chénier concerns himself with keeping his reporters safe in the field. 

“How much body armor do we need to buy our journalists today? We’re negotiating how many helmets and body vests, because tomorrow they’re going to two other hot zones that they have to report from.”

#WATCH: “My body is here, but my mind and spirit is still firmly in Ukraine,” says CEO of @KyivPost and Canadian Luc Chénier who just established himself in Montreal after fleeing the war in Ukraine, the place he’s called home for the last 22 years.

READ: https://t.co/RA0Y9pZJpK pic.twitter.com/uOoWNdLcB4

— Alyssia (@rubertuccinews) April 11, 2022

Although Chénier isn’t on the ground in Ukraine doing the reporting, he says he witnesses the haunting destruction and the scenes of horror in real time through uncensored photos sent to him by his team. 

“I’m not a journalist, but these pictures are haunting me for the rest of my life because it’s really, really disgusting what I’m seeing.”

Chénier says it’s a nightmare he never imagined. 

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Leading up to the Russian invasion, he had been on high alert and notified that he could be in danger. He then planned a vacation in Canada with his wife Irina and daughters Maya, 17, and Milena, 2.

They were scheduled to take off on February 24. 

Luc Chénier with his wife IrIna and daughter Maya. Credit: Luc Chénier / Facebook

“That morning we’re supposed to leave at eight and at 5:18, the first bomb dropped maybe about a kilometer away from our house and really jumped out of bed,” Chénier recounted. “But half-way out of jumping out of bed is when the hard reality kicks in. ‘Oh, my God, it’s really happening.’” 

It took the family 5 days just to make it out of Ukraine by car. 

“When I crossed over into Hungary several weeks ago to safety, I had absolutely no happiness in me,” he said. “It was huge, huge guilt of crossing because I felt I was leaving everybody behind and why was I safe and why did they have to keep fighting?”

 Even if he didn’t take up arms on the frontline of the war, he says his weapon is raising awareness.

“My role is to continue to the rest of the world to know what’s really happening and to want to continue,” he said. “My machine gun is my media outlet.”

As for life in Montreal, Chénier is focusing on adapting, raising funds for Ukraine, and keeping the Kyiv Post going from afar. 

“I don’t view more than a couple of days ahead. I’m just viewing what I can do now and how we can work. And my job now is to get the truth out there, to get as many people as possible, but at the same time to get my family integrated.”