# PROFILE: Jesse Adams asked how he could help, a Russian drone struck his vehicle near Kramatorsk > Jesse Adams was evacuating animals. The vehicle was loaded. A drone attacked it. The windshield was hit. It was near Kramatorsk. It was Sunday, October 25. - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Profile - Published: 2026-10-29 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/profile-jesse-adams-asked-how-he-could-help-a-russian-drone-struck-his-vehicle ## The vehicle had just been loaded Jesse Adams was evacuating animals. The vehicle was loaded. A drone attacked it. The windshield was hit. It was near Kramatorsk. It was Sunday, October 25. Adams was wounded. He was taken to hospital. He died of his injuries. The drone was Russian. It struck the vehicle of rescued animals and the man taking them off the front. Animal Rescue Kharkiv, the Ukrainian group he worked with, announced his death. ### A volunteer from Sooke Adams came from Sooke. He was Canadian, and a volunteer. He had co-founded RainCoast Dog Rescue Society. The group rescues dogs. ### Dogs needing homes in Iran Two days earlier, he messages a friend in Victoria. He sees a post about dogs needing homes in Iran. He asks how to help, she says. *He always asked how he could help.* ## Five cattle, one pig, six cats Adams posted on October 23. A family refused to leave without its animals, he wrote. The village must be evacuated. ### A trailer and some cows They had to move **five cattle, one pig, two dogs and six cats**, according to his post. A video shows the scene. Adams loads cows. Other volunteers help him. The cows go into a trailer. An explosion is heard. A drone had hit a house nearby, Adams wrote. ### Another drone overhead Another flew over them, he added. “We moved to find cover,” he wrote. He wrote this sentence. “Thankfully, we were not chosen as a target in this moment.” He had two days left. ## The city Russia’s army wants to take Kramatorsk is a key city. It is in Donetsk. It is a front-line city. About **100,000 people** live there. Russian forces are trying to take it. They have tried for months. The city still holds. Vadym Filashkin governs Donetsk. He ordered families with children to evacuate. The children must leave. ### Two buses, October 8 On October 8, a Russian glide bomb hit two buses, according to the city council. At least 30 people died. Adams had a mission. On the day of his mission, the Russian military fired on 16 civilian targets, from 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., according to local officials. ### Hospitals and ambulances The city council says hospitals, ambulances, businesses and homes were targeted. The strikes injured 14 people, including three children. Adams worked there. He brought animals out. *A city being emptied, and a Canadian going in.* ## Oak Bay, Sooke, and a mother named Linda Adams grew up in Oak Bay and Sooke, according to his cousin Mat Patenaude. He gave much of his life to animals, in memory of his mother, Linda, who died of cancer. ### A reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces Adams was a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces, Patenaude said in a text. He had a military background. He had Ukrainian roots. Animals came first, he said. ### Roots on his father’s side His roots were on his father’s side, he said. According to the Ukrainian-Canadian Cultural Centre of Vancouver Island, they partly drove him. His cousin adds one sentence. “He wasn’t someone who could just sit back.” He never sat back. ## Ottawa said not to go Ottawa’s advisory is clear. The advisory says to avoid Ukraine. It cites the Russian military invasion. The advisory warns that consular services there are severely limited. The advisory goes further: do not count on Ottawa to help you leave. ### Global Affairs answers by email After his death, Global Affairs Canada offered its condolences. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities, a spokesperson wrote. He cites privacy. The email stops there. ### A caution that makes sense This caution makes sense. A state that cannot go and get its citizens is right to tell them to stay away. The argument holds. Adams went. He went back. He wanted to stay. ## Teddy It was 2013. A dog arrives from Iraq at Lori Kalef’s home. His name is Teddy. He is deemed unadoptable. He has serious problems. ### Kalef looks for help on the Island Kalef looks for help. She searches the Island. She lands on Adams. “That night Jesse arrived at our house,” she recalls. Teddy goes straight to him, she says. The unadoptable dog found his human. The dog had chosen. ### “Teddy became his soul dog” “Inseparable,” says Kalef. In **2014**, Adams co-founds RainCoast. He would wake in the night to help an animal or its human, Kalef says. She draws the line. “Because of that one dog, we were able to save thousands and thousands more.” *One unadoptable dog opened the door to thousands more.* ## A Sooke guy in Montreal Two years and a half after the founding, Adams lands in Montreal. The city bans pit bulls. He wants to raise awareness. He also raises money. The SPCA is fighting the bylaw. ### Justice Louis Godin suspends the bylaw “We are here to stand up against injustice, fear, hate and ignorance,” he says. Justice Louis Godin of Quebec Superior Court rules for the SPCA. He suspends the bylaw. No end date is set. The bylaw waits. ### Pit bulls for Sooke He was to head home to Vancouver with pit bulls from Montreal. RainCoast was to reassess them in Sooke, then place them in foster homes. He took aim at breed bans. “It just doesn’t work,” he said. Quebec knows this debate. A Sooke guy joined it. ## Nearly 300 cats and dogs from Afghanistan According to War Paws, RainCoast helped a veterinary clinic evacuate hundreds of dogs and cats from Afghanistan in 2021. The animals arrive in Vancouver in **2022**. Kalef is at his side. They talk to the media. It took months. ### A makeshift shelter at the airport The count nears 300. Adams stays for days. The shelter is in the terminal. The wary ones trust him. He talks to them, Kalef says. Kalef remembers his voice. “The kindest,” she says. ### Adopted through RainCoast Some have no family to return to. RainCoast has them adopted. “Jesse lived and breathed for this mission,” says Kalef. ## A Cessna to Bella Bella Jayson Biggins credits him with his start. His group did not exist yet. He already rescued a few animals. His father-in-law had a Cessna. Adams sees the potential. He aims for Bella Bella. It is called the “big north rescue.” ### A January morning in North Saanich Biggins remembers the North Saanich hangar, on a cool, dark January morning. They needed a clear sky. The day dawned clear. Adams brings crates and supplies. They joke about weight. The plane takes off. In flight, Adams raises donations for fuel, Biggins says. The donations come in. They talk about military training and humanitarian work. ### Paid for before Port Hardy By the stop in Port Hardy, the trip to Haida Gwaii is already paid for. People believed in him. Biggins is left with one thought. “This guy is full on.” Cowichan Tribes honour a man who treated animals as family. ## Nine lions, then Bonya In 2022, Russia launches its full-scale invasion. Adams evacuates animals. They cross the border. He returns the same year. He heads to the front. He helps bring **nine lions** out of the Odesa zoo. The zoo had been abandoned. ### With Animal Rescue Kharkiv since May In 2026, he goes back. According to an Animal Rescue Kharkiv spokesperson, he had volunteered there since May. In July, two volunteers from Victoria are with him. The team ran about **five missions a week**, according to the Ladysmith Chronicle. Each one saved 30 to 60 animals. Adams estimated the team had helped 700 to 1,000 animals, mostly cats and dogs. There is also a chinchilla, a hedgehog, a turtle and a goat. “All animals matter,” he said. ### A woman waits, an animal in her arms Around a corner, a woman is waiting, he recalls. She holds an animal. It is a raccoon dog. Its name is Bonya. Bonya came from a zoo. Its city was bombed. Russian forces occupied it. Bonya lived with a cat. It was much loved. “I thought it was a badger at first,” Adams recalls. Bonya is safe, he said. In July, he was on his third stay in Ukraine. CTV News counts at least four trips. ## The buzzing in the sky Adams spoke of a “healthy amount of fear.” Fear kept them focused, he said. Drones threatened them, he said. So did artillery. ### “It’s brutal, it’s war” The sky buzzed, he said. “You’ll never forget it.” “It’s always questionable whether you’re going to make it out that day.” He wanted to stay. He was applying for a temporary permit. A visitor gets **90 days**. He wanted more. ### A heart, then nothing He writes to Lori Kalef. “Lori, I’m lucky to be alive,” he tells her. They joke about dinner. Then about who pays. She sends him her prayers. He answers with a heart. She hears nothing more. Luisa Skolik says it. “He knew pretty well that he might die when he goes over there.” “Jesse knew the risks,” War Paws wrote. *He knew the cost, and he still asked how he could help.* ## Hundreds of animals alive because of him The Ukrainian group wrote it. “There are hundreds of animals alive today because of him.” Tributes pour in online. They number in the hundreds. People show off one of “Jesse’s dogs.” ### A horse on a farm near Victoria Luisa Skolik cares for a horse. Adams had rescued it. The farm is near Victoria. Penny Stone runs the Victoria Humane Society. “He’s a hero,” she says. ### Jayson Biggins’s anger Biggins feels a little anger. “All the animals he can’t save,” he says. Adams was still young, he says. So many animals were waiting, he adds. Lori Kalef answers differently. She says she still hears him. “Use what has happened to keep saving more animals.” The anger and the drive speak of the same man. ## The question he asked He asked a question. ### Near Kramatorsk, a windshield A Russian drone cut it off. ### Those who remain It still stands. *He asked how he could help, always.* Jesse Adams asked how he could help, and a Russian drone struck his vehicle near Kramatorsk. Who here will take up his question for the animals he could not bring out? **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources: ### Primary Sources: - [Government of Canada — Ukraine travel advice, avoid all travel, May 26, 2026](https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/ukraine) - [Global News — B.C. dog rescue society travels to Montreal to help fight pit bull ban, October 7, 2016](https://globalnews.ca/news/2990034/b-c-dog-rescue-society-travels-to-montreal-to-help-fight-pit-bull-ban/) - [Ladysmith Chronicle — B.C. volunteer braves Ukraine war for all creatures great, small and bizarre, July 10, 2026](https://ladysmithchronicle.com/2026/07/10/b-c-volunteer-braves-ukraine-war-for-all-creatures-great-small-and-bizarre/) ### Secondary Sources: - [CP24 — Canadian man killed in drone strike in Ukraine, October 27, 2026](https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/10/27/canadian-animal-rescuer-killed-in-drone-strike-in-ukraine-charity-says/) - [Times Colonist — Vancouver Island man killed by drone while rescuing animals in Ukraine, October 28, 2026](https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/vancouver-island-man-killed-by-drone-while-rescuing-animals-in-ukraine-12947084) - [Victoria News — Remembering Jesse: South Island crusader killed during Ukraine animal rescue, October 28, 2026](https://vicnews.com/2026/10/28/remembering-jesse-south-island-crusader-killed-during-ukraine-animal-rescue/) --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/profile-jesse-adams-asked-how-he-could-help-a-russian-drone-struck-his-vehicle