Mandeep Singh, a 30-year-old Indian-origin Canadian Sikh, left his home in Brampton, Ontario, to volunteer in Ukraine and was posthumously awarded the Ukrainian Canadian Sacrifice Medal in December 2025, more than a year after he was killed in action on October 27, 2024.According to a Kyiv Post report, Mandeep, who had no prior connection to Ukraine, was honoured in a ceremony on December 4, 2025, in Toronto, attended by the Ukrainian Consul General and members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada.“Mandeep answered an urgent call for help and made the ultimate sacrifice so the Ukrainian people could live in freedom,” Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko wrote on Facebook, the report says.He is the only Sikh Canadian among 14 recipients of the medal. “We owe them a debt that can never be repaid, and we will ensure that their sacrifice is remembered forever,” Taras Jackiw, chairperson of the Ukrainian Canadian Sacrifice Medal, said in a statement to Kyiv Post.Born in Mumbai, Mandeep’s parents, Jaswinder Singh and Asha Kaur, moved to Brampton in 2004. The family describes him as disciplined, humanitarian, and inspired by the Sikh principle of Sewa—selfless service to humanity without expectation of reward. “He always said if his life could help someone, it would be satisfactory for him,” the report cited Mandeep’s mother as saying.After high school, Mandeep trained in a detective course and served part-time in the Canadian Army. Motivated by discipline and humanitarian ideals, he decided in late 2023 to volunteer in Ukraine. He travelled through Poland before arriving in January 2024 and returned briefly to Canada in April before embarking on his final mission in October.His parents received the devastating news of his death from a close friend on October 29, 2024, though he had died two days earlier after suffering a critical gunshot injury. His remains were repatriated to Canada after months of administrative procedures, and his final rites were performed on April 13, 2025, coinciding with Vaisakhi.