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SUPPLIED Anatolii Ishchenko, 30, has been found dead. The Ukrainian refugee was missing since Jan. 22.

Missing Ukrainian man found dead

Katie May 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:00 PM CDT

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The community is mourning a Ukrainian refugee who was found dead Saturday night, nearly three months after he was last seen.

Anatolii Ishchenko, 30, was missing since Jan. 22. His body was located in the Red River at the intersection of Lyndale Drive and Chandos Avenue at around 11 p.m. Saturday — more than 10 kilometres north of where he was last seen in the 2300 block of Pembina Highway. He had walked out of Victoria Hospital’s waiting room before being reported missing.

“We need this death not to go in vain,” said volunteer search-and-rescue organizer Oksana Burchak, saying the young man’s death emphasizes the need for change in the response to patients who leave health-care facilities after seeking pyschiatric help, particularly in brutally cold weather.

Burchak said she was notified a body was found late Saturday. She said she confirmed with Winnipeg police that it was Ishchenko, identified by his tattoos as well as height and age. Police haven’t released any information publicly.

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Explosion forces residents to evacuate Kennedy Street Manitoba Housing complex

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Preview

Explosion forces residents to evacuate Kennedy Street Manitoba Housing complex

Scott Billeck 3 minute read 4:50 PM CDT

Residents of an inner-city high-rise say they were forced to evacuate Monday afternoon after explosions blew out a window on the eighth floor.

Darrell Klassen, who lives on the top floor of the 16-storey Manitoba Housing apartment complex at 444 Kennedy St., said he heard several blasts before noticing the smell of smoke.

“The elevators were shut down, so we had to take the stairwells,” Klassen said. “Both stairwells were full of smoke, so I had to mask up and put a wet cloth over my face.”

Klassen said the incident marks the seventh fire in as many years, adding that many are linked to drug activity.

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4:50 PM CDT

SUPPLIED

Residents reported an explosion at a 444 Kennedy St. apartment block Monday.
SUPPLIED Residents reported an explosion at a 444 Kennedy St. apartment block Monday.

Homeowners can keep 11-foot fence, committee rules

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read 5:21 PM CDT

A well-known Winnipeg couple will get to keep their extra-tall fence, despite the city’s previous directive to replace it with a shorter one.

Lynne Skromeda and Jason Smith built a fence in 2023 that reaches as high as 11.13 feet (3.39 metres) along one portion of their home’s west side yard and 8.09 feet (2.47 metres) along the rear side.

City standards limit fence heights to six-feet, six inches (1.98 metres) for rear and side yards, and four feet (1.22 metres) in front yards in their part of the McMillan neighbourhood.

On Monday during an appeal hearing, the couple said the taller fence addresses privacy concerns that are unique to their property.

Manitoba summit to explore solutions to chronic truancy

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba summit to explore solutions to chronic truancy

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read 7:13 PM CDT

Winnipeg teachers are cutting class on Thursday to strategize how to improve student attendance and remove barriers so more children show up for lessons on a regular basis.

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7:13 PM CDT

Free Press Files
Free Press Files

Provincial wildlife service fined for employee’s death in 2022

Free Press staff 2 minute read 6:36 PM CDT

The Manitoba Wildfire Service has been fined $100,000 in connection to an ATV crash that killed an employee nearly four years ago.

Riley Manych, 23, was training for the Manitoba Wildfire Service in The Pas when he was critically injured on July 11, 2022, in an incident involving an all-terrain vehicle.

Manych was travelling on a paved road when he lost control of the vehicle and it began to roll. He was ejected from the ATV and suffered fatal injuries.

Manitoba’s department of natural resources and Indigenous futures, which oversees the Wildfire Service, pleaded guilty to three counts of contravening the Workplace Safety and Health Act during a hearing late last month, the province said in a news release Monday.

Poll shows slim majority of Canadians in support of Churchill port expansion

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Poll shows slim majority of Canadians in support of Churchill port expansion

Chris Kitching 5 minute read 6:40 PM CDT

More than half of Canadians support expanding the Port of Churchill, although the proposed mega-project faces environmental concerns and a lack of public awareness outside Manitoba, a new poll suggests.

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6:40 PM CDT

COURTESY OF ARCTIC GATEWAY GROUP (AGG)

The Arctic Gateway Group took over ownership of Churchill’s port and Manitoba’s northern railway in 2018. Buoyed by government investments, the entity is forecasting a significant increase in Arctic shipping.

COURTESY OF ARCTIC GATEWAY GROUP (AGG) The Arctic Gateway Group took over ownership of Churchill’s port and Manitoba’s northern railway in 2018. Buoyed by government investments, the entity is forecasting a significant increase in Arctic shipping.

News briefs for Monday, April 20, 2026

4 minute read Updated: 5:28 PM CDT

A collection of breaking news briefs filed on Monday, April 20, 2026

HSC children's emergency dept. flagged for measles exposure

5:28 PM

Manitoba Health is flagging two possible measles exposures at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg in recent days.

Salvation Army volunteer hours climb in face of national decline

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

The Salvation Army says its volunteers stick with it through thick and thin and it wants to give a shout-out to them during National Volunteer Week.

Figures released by Statistics Canada last year show the rate of volunteer participation declined in Canada in 2023 to 73 per cent from 79 per cent in 2018, but that’s not the case at the Christian-based charity.

At the Salvation Army, volunteer hours have “increased significantly” over recent years; in 2025, more than 819,000 volunteer hours were logged across the country, up from 508,000 hours in 2021.

Volunteer applications have also doubled.

Rural communities team up to court doctors

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Preview

Rural communities team up to court doctors

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Updated: 11:07 AM CDT

A close call that would have seen the Russell emergency department temporarily close has leaders in the area joining forces to entice more doctors to practise in the town.

“At this point in time, it’s becoming a crisis,” said Louise Perreault, who manages both the Lions Manor and Park Manor, home to approximately 40 seniors.

The ER at the Russell Health Centre was set to close for a weekend earlier this month, but the shutdown was avoided at the last minute when a doctor was found.

Currently, only two doctors work in the community, one at the medical centre and another at a local clinic, but the low numbers are creating concern for many in the area, located roughly 350 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

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Updated: 11:07 AM CDT

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara speaks on Friday April 10, 2026. The Health Minister says they support the local efforts to recruit doctors.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara speaks on Friday April 10, 2026. The Health Minister says they support the local efforts to recruit doctors.

North End vocational school opens ‘cultural learning lab’ creative design studio

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

North End vocational school opens ‘cultural learning lab’ creative design studio

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

A North End warehouse has been converted into a multi-purpose design studio where students can sew ribbon skirts, print 3D models and launch businesses.

The Winnipeg School Division celebrated the grand opening of its Waabishkaa-Makwa Lab last week.

The first-of-its-kind “cultural learning lab” embeds Indigenous teachings into project-based learning activities.

For more than a decade, the 4,500-square-foot space inside R.B. Russell Vocational School had been collecting dust and housing broken equipment.

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6:00 AM CDT

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Marney Stapley (left), co-ordinator of the new Waabishkaa-Makwa Lab, and WSD knowledge keeper Elaine Mayham at R.B. Russell Vocational School.
Marney Stapley (left), co-ordinator of the new Waabishkaa-Makwa Lab, and WSD knowledge keeper Elaine Mayham at R.B. Russell Vocational School.

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