Victim in random Edmonton bus stop stabbing had just fled warn-torn Ukraine with family

Ivan Pylypchuk fled war-ravaged Ukraine with his family for a safer haven in Edmonton, only to become the victim of a random bus stop stabbing less than two weeks after arriving in Alberta.

That’s the upsetting story Pylypchuk’s close friend, Leonid Leshchinsky, is sharing with CityNews as Pylypchuk recovers in hospital after Thursday morning’s brutal unprovoked attack.

Leshchinsky says Pylypchuk, who just turned 48, secured a construction job within days of arriving in Edmonton and was on his way to work Thursday morning when a total stranger stabbed him in the back for no apparent reason.

Edmonton police say it happened at around 6:15 a.m., at the bus stop near 38 Avenue and Millbourne Road.

Pylypchuk was able to call 911 on his own before collapsing. He was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and later underwent surgery.

“She (his wife) was thinking about the worst, all day,” Leshchinsky told CityNews in a phone interview. “Ivan is finally conscious after surgery, and the surgery went well. So he is with us, thank God.”

The suspect remains at large. No suspect description is currently available.

Leshchinsky has set up a GoFundMe page for his friend, stressing that he’s lost the ability to provide for his wife and eight-year-old daughter.

“Ivan started working on his 3rd day in Canada and he is the only source of income for his family,” Leshchinsky wrote on the online fundraiser, which has quickly eclipsed its target goal of $50,000.

“They have no friends or family in Edmonton and are running out of money soon,” he added.

In an update on the GoFundMe page, Leshchinsky described some of the traumatic injuries his friend suffered.

“The paramedics brought him to the hospital with a knife in his chest, the tip of the knife broke and got stuck in the lung near the heart and the surgeons had to remove part of the lung.

“It is not yet known how long the recovery will take.”

With files from Cole Fortner