Within minutes, their lives changed. Some heard the news through text messages and phone calls from loved ones, others, through the noise of loud explosions. Here is how people from the Ukrainian badminton community lived the first days of the invasion.
Max Sydorenko, a Ukrainian badminton player, journalist, entrepreneur, and sales professional got in touch with different personalities from the badminton community in his country, giving those who are suffering the consequences of the conflict a platform to make their experiences heard by badminton fans around the world.
Tetyana Potapenko, professional player and coach
After having played a couple of tournaments in these first months of the year, just like many others, Potapenko headed to Dnipro, a city in eastern Ukraine, to play at the Ukrainian Cup. What should have been yet another event to compete with other players, celebrating our sport, turned into a nightmare.
- I woke up at 6 am, not from the alarm clock but from the messages saying that we had to escape quickly. We decided to leave Dnipro. There was a traffic jam in the cities and at the gas stations.
Potapenko made it to Mikolayiv, a city in the south of Ukraine where she lives and where she also coaches. Yet, the city was really different to how it was when she had left to the tournament. She describes the chaos that she found herself in upon her arrival to the city.
- Some people had left the town, others had stayed. On the first day, I was very scared and nervous. I did not sleep, I felt sick, and I could not eat. It was the same for many of my friends. Some others from my group live in my area and we meet in basements, the “bomb shelters”, while others stay at home, they are already used to sirens and explosions.
- The first day was a shock, now everyone has adapted. We keep in touch with everyone in the badminton group. We help and support each other. Only two days have passed, and it feels like two weeks. I worry about life, for the lives of children and relatives, Potapenko explained.
Natalia Rakytianska, Umpire
Just like Potapenko, Natalia Rakytianska was to meet many others at Dnipro for the National Cup. She was on her way there when she was told about the news from a friend.
- I did not know what to do. After some thinking, I decided to take a train, and I was lucky to take the last one going to Kyiv.
The understandable initial confusion and the uncertainty in war is there, but Rakytianska decided to move quickly to be close with those she loves.
- The most challenging thing to do in the first days of the war was to decide what I would do – departing to Vinnytsia where my parents live but where a large military base is located, heading to the west of Ukraine, staying in Dnipro or going back to Kyiv. My cat stayed at home in Kyiv, so I decided to go back and save it. After that, I left Kyiv and went to my parents.
Artem Pochtarov, professional player
Ukraine’s top men’s singles player Artem Pochtarov also received the news thanks to phone calls from his close ones. His parents tried to get in contact with him, but it was one of his friends phoning that finally managed to wake him up. “Artem, it has started”, were the first words he heard that day and that would also mean the beginning of a difficult period for Pochtarov and his country.
- “What has started?”, I asked. I understood immediately after, Pochtarov said.
The two-times Olympian and three-times national champion of Ukraine describes his first day as not so difficult, with him and his girlfriend gathering a first aid bag and other basic things they would need and reading on what to do in such situations. They then left to one of the basements for the night, and his girlfriend’s mother is now staying with them.
Pochtarev is concerned about what will happen and hesitant on whether following many of the Ukrainian men’s steps, including his father-in-law, by joining the Territorial Defence Forces.
- We stayed at home, I refused to leave the city. I thought that it would have been dangerous to drive at that time. We did not sleep, we had to hide in the basement several times. I have thought about joining the Territorial Defence Forces but I am still thinking about it since I do not have any military skills or knowledge.
Mykhailo Sterin, Head Coach at Kharkiv Badminton Sports Club
Mykhailo Sterin was also at Dnipro for the National Cup, together with coach Anna Kryuchkova and a group of 16 children. It was in the second day of the event when it all began.
- We decided to stay in the city. Going back home with a group of children was not an option at all. I felt that something very bad might happen the day before, so I had fuelled up the car, Sterin explained.
- Dnipro became quiet. The children understood everything, they grew up in a day. Our native city, Kharkiv, is heavily bombed and our native region, invaded. We just need to believe and do everything to ensure our tomorrow.
Anastasiya Prozorova, professional player
Far from home and from here family, Anastasiya Prozorova had embarked on an exciting trip to Uganda together with other Ukrainian players to compete at a tournament. It would be far from the usual competition for medals, as she woke up one day with a text from her mother who explained what had happened back in Ukraine.
- The first day, I scrolled the news feed all the time. I called my parents and tried to support my younger brother, but I burst into tears. I could not play because I was too stressed. The situation, my parents, friends, the impossibility of returning home. We will fly to Milan tomorrow, Prozorova said before her trip to Italy, where she has safely arrived today.
To read more about their experience and see some of the photographs from the interviewees, check the article by Max Sydorenko
here.