Ukrainian man studying in Alberta died in last week's attack in France, embassy confirms
Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa is not releasing the man's name
A Ukrainian man matching the description of an Edmonton student who went missing in the attack in Nice, France, last week is dead, the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa confirmed Monday.
Embassy spokesman Kostiantyn Kostenko said the man was killed in the "terrorist attack" in Nice, but would not release his name, citing privacy legislation.
The news comes days after Mykhaylo Bazelevskyy, who had been studying at Edmonton's MacEwan University, went missing in Nice shortly after a truck sped through a crowd during a Bastille Day celebration, killing more than 80 people.
Bazelevskyy, 22, was one of five students and one faculty member from MacEwan who was attending an innovation program at the European Innovation Academy.
The university confirmed Bazelevskyy's whereabouts were unknown after the attack.
University president David Atkinson told reporters last week that Bazelevskyy is a Ukrainian national who came to MacEwan as an international student and later got permanent resident status in Canada.
He travelled on a Ukrainian passport, which may explain why no Canadians were listed among the victims in Nice, Atkinson said.
On Monday morning, MacEwan University officials could not be reached for comment on the embassy's confirmation of a death of an Edmonton student.
Bazelevskyy was well known on campus, his peers said.
Averil Jones met him in her first year at MacEwan, when the two trained together on the school's cross-country team.
"I know he was really involved with different activities around the school," she said. "This past election for the students union, he ran for election in that, and I just always saw him around the school volunteering for just random things.
"He is a really wonderful, wonderful person. Just very genuine, very kind hearted, very soft spoken. Just an all around golden-hearted person."