On a winter morning in Mississauga, near Toronto’s bustling airport, Jaswinder Singh tied his brown turban and dressed scrupulously. Then Singh and his wife, Asha Kaur Singh, equally proud and emotional, headed to an event in Toronto that would be the public recognition of their son’s death.
Thirty-year-old Mandeep Singh, an Indian-origin Canadian Sikh, had died serving as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine on Oct. 27, 2024. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada posthumously awarded him the Ukrainian Canadian Sacrifice Medal in a solemn ceremony on Dec. 4, 2025, in Toronto. In an official statement, Global Affairs Canada says it is aware of the deaths of 26 Canadians in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.
Ukrainian Consul General in Toronto, Oleh Nikolenko, attended the ceremony and stated that Mandeep had no prior connection to Ukraine before volunteering. “Mandeep answered an urgent call for help and made the ultimate sacrifice so the Ukrainian people could live in freedom,” Nikolenko wrote in a Facebook post.
Taras Jackiw, chairperson of the Ukrainian Canadian Sacrifice Medal, the honor has been bestowed upon 14 Canadian heroes to date, and Mandeep Singh stands alone among them as the only Sikh Canadian. “We owe them a debt that can never be repaid – and we will ensure that their sacrifice is remembered forever. May Their Memory Be Eternal,” Jackiw said in a written statement to Kyiv Post.
Singh and Kaur remain extraordinarily proud of their son’s contribution to others, despite their profound loss. “The Sacrifice Medal is a recognition of my son’s sacrifice. I am glad it received this acknowledgement,” Kaur said. “He made a rare sacrifice for humanitarian service. For him, everyone was equal – he never discriminates with anyone,” Kaur said.
An unlikely warrior
Mandeep Singh had no ancestral ties to Ukraine, no family connection, no personal history to a European nation, which made his story rare and undocumented. What inspires a young Canadian Sikh to travel thousands of miles to fight and ultimately die for a country he would never call home?
Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world, with nearly 30 million adherents. While 90 percent of Sikhs are in India, Canada is home to approximately 800,000 Sikhs, the second-highest population outside the Indian subcontinent.
The family believes Mandeep was deeply inspired by the Sikh principle of Sewa – selfless service to humanity without expectation of reward or recognition. “Mandeep was highly inspired by Sewa and possessed knowledge of Sikh Gurus and teachings,” said Kaur.
Harinder Singh, a senior fellow at the US-based Sikh Research Institute, describes the Sikh declaration of Ik Onkar – One Creative and Pervasive Force – as a paradigm of unitary Oneness across the world. “It’s lived experience propels Sikhs to stand with all underrepresented peoples and nations as they practice love and justice symbiotically,” Singh said, explaining what motivates Sikhs to fight for others.
Immigrant story
The Singh and Kaur family embodies the archetypal immigrant narrative. They relocated from Mumbai, India’s financial capital, to Brampton, Ontario, in 2004, where South Asians constitute the majority.
Starting from scratch in Maple Country, 65-year-old Singh, an interior designer, and Kaur, an accountant, built a life for their two sons and themselves. “Mandeep Singh was 12 years old,” Singh recalled. “He enrolled in a school in Brampton and rose in a diverse culture.”
From the initial years, Mandeep exhibited qualities that would ultimately define his fate. “My son was a self-disciplined, humanitarian, regular blood donor, helpful, and well-organized person,” Singh said with evident pride.
After completing high school, Mandeep pursued a detective course and also served the Canadian Army as a part-time soldier. “I would ask him, ‘Why do you want to join the army?’” Singh remembered. “He would reply that the Army uniform and the discipline inspired him.”
“While the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces has a service record of a former member with the same name as the person you referenced, we have not been able to confirm if this service record belongs to the person you are referring to,” Canadian National Defense official spokesperson said.
A mother’s burden
Jaswinder Singh reveals that her son was exceptionally close to his mother, Asha Kaur. He confides his decisions to her before anyone else. Kaur recalls that Mandeep had decided to go to Ukraine five or six months before his actual departure on Dec. 29, 2023. “Mandeep always said if his life could help someone, it would be satisfactory for him,” Kaur said.
When Mandeep Singh turned 30, his parents had begun thinking about his marriage, a traditional milestone in their culture. But his decision was unexpected. During his belated birthday celebration with friends on Dec. 27, 2023, Mandeep announced his plan. “He informed me that he was going to Ukraine for a noble cause,” Kaur said. “He traveled through Poland and finally reached Ukraine in January 2024.”
Kaur still remembered that Mandeep’s friend tried to persuade him to reconsider his decision after the party, but he remained unmoved. Mandeep offered a profound and straightforward justification. “He told us there was a desperate need for help in Ukraine. Elderly people are fighting, and he was young enough to contribute and remained firm on his decision,” Kaur said.
Mandeep returned to Canada in April 2024 for two weeks before embarking on his second deployment to Ukraine. Kaur’s last conversation occurred on Oct. 24, 2024, as he prepared to depart for a mission. “He told me it was his final trip and that he would return soon,” she said, her voice breaking. “We had no idea those would be his last words to us – he would never return.”
The devastating call
On Oct. 29, 2024, it began as an ordinary workday for Asha Kaur at her office in Canada. Then her phone rang. On the other end was Mandeep’s close friend, and his words shattered her world completely. “Mandeep’s friend informed me that Mandeep had been shot and suffered a critical gunshot injury. He died on the spot,” she said in an emotionally drenched voice even months later.
Kaur rushed to her husband’s factory to deliver the tragic news. They learned that their son had actually died two days earlier, on Oct. 27, 2024, and the notification had been delayed. “We came home and sat down in silence,” Kaur shared. “It has been a challenging time. My son has done something extraordinary, but the void he left will never be filled.”
The family then faced a bureaucratic ordeal: bringing their son’s remains home to Canada so they could perform his final rituals according to Sikh tradition. The process proved extraordinarily complex.
According to Singh and Kaur, once authorities recovered Mandeep’s remains, they conducted DNA testing and processed various administrative requirements. The entire repatriation took around five months. “It was not easy, but with support from Global Affairs, Canada, the International Legion, and the Red Cross, we were able to do the final rituals for our son on April 13, 2025, which happened to be Vaisakhi, a festive day for Sikhs,” Kaur said.
Sikhs in Ukraine’s Defense
Russia invaded Ukraine on a full scale in February 2022. Mandeep Singh’s contribution is part of a broader, if limited, phenomenon of Sikh involvement in Ukraine’s defense. In a written statement, the Main Directorate of Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) acknowledged that Sikhs from various countries around the world are participating in the war on Ukraine’s side, although their numbers are not massive.
“Their involvement manifests in both direct combat operations and humanitarian activities,” the AFU statement noted. “There are isolated cases of local citizens embracing Sikhism in Ukraine. In particular, the story of Ukrainian Sikh Harcharan Singh Khalsa, who took up arms to defend the country, is well known.”
The statement highlighted the Sikh community’s exceptional activism in humanitarian work. “Organizations like Khalsa Aid and United Sikhs deployed large-scale aid operations at Ukraine’s borders and within combat zones. The Langar tradition: Sikhs organized free community kitchens (langars) for Ukrainian refugees and those affected by the war, providing food and shelter to thousands regardless of their faith.”
“As of late 2025, there are known individual representatives of the Sikh community (both from India and the diaspora – United Kingdom, Canada, the US) who have joined the International Legion. For many Sikh warriors, defending justice and helping the vulnerable is a core part of their religious code of honor,” the AFU statement explained.
However, the AFU statement also noted complications: “At the end of 2025, the situation regarding Indian citizens – specifically Sikhs from Punjab – became more complex because Russia had been using deceptive practices to recruit them into its army in large numbers.”
Consequently, the global Sikh community has been actively calling on its members not to travel to the Russian Federation to avoid becoming “cannon fodder,” encouraging those who wish to help Ukraine through volunteering or professional service in the Legion. “In contrast to the Sikhs, other citizens of India have decided to side with the aggressor country and join the Russians in killing Ukrainians,” the AFU statement said.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs of India, as of December 2025, the recruitment of over 200 Indian citizens into the ranks of the Russian aggressors to participate in the war against Ukraine has been officially confirmed. Among them, approximately 26-28 citizens have died, and 7 are missing. “Thanks to the efforts of the Indian government, 119 individuals were discharged early and returned home. Approximately 50 Indians remain in the aggressor’s army,” the AFU statement said.
Not for glory
The journey of Mandeep from Mississauga to the Ukraine battlefield raises questions about the call of conscience and duty. He shunned the comforts of his homeland, a career with Canadian railways, and the loving embrace of his family to fight for strangers in a distant land.
Singh and Kaur, immigrants who sacrificed their own comfort to build a better life for their children, now grapple with the ultimate sacrifice their son made – not for glory, but for the fundamental Sikh principle of standing against oppression wherever it exists. “My son was humanitarian, helpful, and self-disciplined,” Singh and Kaur repeated.