Ukrainian Olympic karate medallist Stanislav Horuna says he is ‘ready to fight’ to defend his country following the devastating invasion in Russia – and even believes he will be able to return to training in the near future.
Horuna, 33, won a bronze medal in the men’s -75kg category in Tokyo last summer but has now picked up arms and joined Ukraine’s military effort. His primary role, he has revealed, is helping people who have been forced to leave their homes.
However, he is willing to take to the frontline in a bid to hold off Vladimir Putin’s forces, and is under no illusions about the damage already inflicted in the conflict.
‘Mentally I am ready, ready to fight. Because I know I am not attacking, I am defending,’ Horuna, who has also clinched medals of all colours in European Championship and World Games competition, told BBC Radio 5 Live.
On his role in his homeland, he added: ‘Of course not all Ukraine as many cities are totally destroyed, some cities are half destroyed and of course those people who left their homes and cities, now they are refugees.
‘Many of them have left the country and their lives changed completely. I stay in a relatively safe place and we are trying to help those people who have left their houses.’
According to the United Nations, over 1.7million people have left Ukraine because of the invasion. Many of them have crossed the border into neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia.
But despite the vast refugee crisis and the ongoing attempts to capture the country by Russia, an optimistic Horuna believes Ukraine ‘will soon be back to normal life’.
Ukrainian Olympic karate medallist Stanislav Horuna says he is ready to fight for his country
The United Nations claim that over 1.7million people have been forced to leave the country
He is just one of a host of athletes from his homeland to have enlisted with the military. Boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko have both signed up.
Meanwhile, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, both also former heavyweight champions, are also determined to protect Ukraine. The former is the mayor of the capital, Kyiv.
Horuna, when questioned on whether he has been treated differently as a result of his sporting pedigree, says he sees himself as a standard soldier performing his duty.
‘I consider myself just another man on the barricades,’ he said.
Horuna is optimistic that ‘normal life’ will soon return to his homeland despite the violence
Brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko have remained in the country to defend their people
‘I do the same that other people do. We stay together and we resist. We help each other, we are so united and stronger than ever before.
‘And I don’t see anything heroic in my decision to join the army, because everyone here is doing the same.’
He is also adamant that the invasion will come to an end within the next fortnight, with reports suggesting that Russia’s forces are beginning to run out of supplies.
Should the violence come to an end in eastern Europe, Horuna plans to begin training once again and is already eyeing up his next tournament.
Horuna is pictured at the unveiling of his star in the Square of Stars in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital
‘I guess in 10 days, maybe two weeks we will win this war and my theory is life will get back to normal,’ he said.
‘And I will be able to visit my gym, my dojo and continue my regular training. And I will start the preparation for the next tournament or championship.
‘We will see – I hope and believe it will finish soon because Russian army is running out of resources.’
The invasion has ‘slowed significantly’ as ‘demoralised’ troops suffer heavy losses, Kyiv’s commanders have claimed, forcing Putin’s soldiers to resort to indiscriminate attacks on civilians which killed and wounded a number of children overnight.
Smoke rises into the night sky over Sumy, eastern Ukraine, after the city was hit by airstrikes
Destroyed houses are seen in Sumy, eastern Ukraine, which has come under heavy bombing
Dmytro Zhyvytsky, who heads up the military administration in the besieged eastern city of Sumy, said airstrikes that struck civilian areas shortly after 11pm killed 18 people including two children and wounded others.
Russia said it will again open up ‘humanitarian corridors’ to allow civilians to flee bombarded cities including Sumy – but the offer has already been dismissed by Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of ‘cynicism’, saying its troops have laid mines across the routes and blown up buses intended to be used as transports.
Russia has today offered to reopen ‘humanitarian corridors’ for civilians to flee besieged cities
