By Mark Grey
2:00am PST, Mar 6, 2022
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They’re combating for Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started on Feb 24, 2022, civilians have taken up arms to defend their beloved nation. Amongst these on the entrance traces are Olympians, soccer stars and several other of the most important boxers on the planet — together with Wladimir Klitschko, the second longest reigning boxing heavyweight champion of all time. Wladimir, who famously shares a daughter with former fiancée Hayden Panettiere, joined the battle early. “I’m sorry, where should we go? This is our home… we defend it,” he instructed the BBC in an interview. For the reason that invasion was launched, Wladimir has pleaded for peace, however he is made it clear he won’t hesitate to get entangled in armed fight. Maintain studying to see different Ukrainian athletes (together with Wladimir’s well-known brother) who’re defending their nation from Russian forces…
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Former world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, the brother of Wladimir Klitschko, is the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine. Requested if he would be part of forces with residents to fend off Russia, he instructed reporters, “I don’t have another choice. I have to do that… I will be fighting.” He added, “I believe. I believe in Ukraine, I believe in my country and I believe in my people.”
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Two-time gold medal-winning Olympic boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko was in Greece when Russia invaded his house nation of Ukraine. He rapidly hightailed it again — by way of Romania — and joined the Ukrainian military. He is now with the Terror Defence Battalion of his hometown, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. Vasiliy, probably the greatest pound-for-pound boxers on the planet, has a battle nonetheless set for June. That battle, although, shall be in a hoop with a lot much less at stake. A photograph of Vasiliy in army gear carrying an M16 assault rifle alongside his city’s mayor, Vitaliy Grazhdan, went viral.
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Oleksandr Usyk, who turned boxing’s world heavyweight champion in September 2021, was in London when Russia invaded his native Ukraine. He instantly flew to Poland after which drove 500 miles into Kyiv to assist out. He is now part of a Ukrainian protection battalion. “If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it,” he instructed CNN by way of an interpreter. “But I don’t want that. I don’t want to shoot, I don’t want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice.” He added, “My soul belongs to the Lord and my body and my honor belong to my country, to my family. So there is no fear, absolutely no fear. There’s just bafflement — how could this be in the 21st century?”
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2022 Olympic skier Dmytro Mazurchuk reportedly joined the Ukrainian army after the Russian invasion.
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Former professional tennis participant Sergiy Stakhovsky left his spouse and youngsters at their house in Hungary and returned to his native Ukraine to battle. He is now a member of the military reservists defending Kyiv. As soon as ranked the No. 31 tennis participant on this planet, Sergiy instructed CNN that it was a tough choice to make, however he would not remorse it. “It’s impossible to make that call without hesitation. I have a wife and three kids,” he stated. “If I would stay home, I’d feel guilt that I didn’t come back [to Ukraine], and now I’m here, I feel guilty that I left them at home.” On March 3, Sergiy — who beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013 — posted a photograph of himself in army gear. “Never in my life I would expect that I will have to wear bulletproof vest in #Kyiv. It’s a disaster the way RUSSIA invaded Ukraine…. Bombing cities…killing innocent people….World we must unite to make it stop.. to put putin where he belongs.. PRISON CELLAR,” he wrote. In the future earlier, he spoke about seeing harmless individuals dropping every part. “We have to prevail…WE MUST NOT SURRENDER,” he wrote.
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Three-time Olympic biathlete Dmytro Pidruchnyi, who most not too long ago competed within the Winter Video games in Beijing in February 2022, enlisted within the Ukrainian army after Russian assaults started. On March 1, he posted an Instagram picture of himself in fight gear as an air raid alarm went off. “I’m currently in my hometown Ternopil serving in the National Guard of Ukraine,” he wrote.
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Olympic karate bronze medalist Stanislav Horuna, who represented Ukraine within the 2020 Summer season Video games in Tokyo, joined the Ukrainian military after which celebrated his thirty second birthday. “Just in case, if you wanted to make me a birthday present, better [to] send [that money] as a donation to support the Ukrainian Army and mention Ukraine in your social media,” he stated on Instagram.
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MMA fighter Yaroslav Amosov stated on Instagram that he put his household in a protected space however he is not fleeing. The present Bellator champion vowed to “defend this country as best I can” towards Russia.
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Simply hours after Russia started attacking Ukraine, Svyatik Artemenko — a Ukraine-born skilled soccer participant from Winnipeg, Canada — waited in line to hitch his native nation’s army. “Deep down inside there’s always the fear of losing my life, and obviously it’s a war, so it’s normal to feel a bit of fear,” he instructed the media. “But the feeling of pride and taking responsibility, it surpasses the sense of fear.”