Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains a hot topic. Very early on Ukraine had many famous fighters rally to defend the country. Among those who joined were Klitschko brothers (former world heavyweight champion Wladimir and WBO title holder Vitali), the two-weight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBO featherweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Lomachenko and Usyk joining the resistance in particular affected one Russian soldier so much his entire perspective shifted.
As a reminder Russia started the assault on Ukraine on February 24th entering the country at multiple points and aiming to capture the capital Kiev. Vitali Klitschko is the currently appointer mayor of Kiev.
Recently a story from a Russian prisoner of war made the headlines. The man in question didn’t believe that Russia was invading – he claimed they were told Ukraine was overtaken by an extreme nationalist regime that seized power.
He explains:
“We were told that Ukraine allegedly… we were told this while being in Russia via media that Ukraine is dominated literally – I’m 100 per cent wrong now don’t judge too harshly – Ukraine’s territory is dominated by fascists’ regime nationalists, Nazis have seized power.
“Sometimes we got something from some other sources, we could do a little analysis but we had some doubts, we did not know the situation for sure.”
“I personally, just when we entered this territory when I watched the address of the professional boxers, your boxers,” he continued.
“Back home I always loved watching them, Usyk and Lomachenko, they are my favorites. I mean that when I say it. ”
“These people are just ready to take arms. They said ‘we didn’t call you here’ and I feel shame that we came to this country.”
Over 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine already. This is bound to be one of the biggest refugee crisis in Europe in the twenty first century.