“Being here really sends a message,” Alexandr Dolgopolov reveals his motivation and struggles behind taking up arms against Russia
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Alexandr Dolgopolov with his soldier's vest and gun
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has affected numerous civilians in the war-torn country. With hundreds dying daily, scores injured and people fleeing to take refugee in other countries, the lives of the Ukrainians have fallen into jeopardy in midst of the crisis. Organizations have been striving to assist Ukraine’s residents, with millions of youngsters at risk as the crisis escalates.
Alexandr Dolgopolov explains reason to pick up arms amidst war
In a recent interview with sports news website Eurosport, former tennis star Alexandr Dolgopolov explained and talked about his decision to pick up arms for Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion of the country.
The 33-year old former Ukrainian star took to social media on Wednesday to reveal that he had returned to Kyiv ready to fight, having initially fled to Turkey with his mother and sister at the start of the aggression. Dolgopolov revealed he had undergone weapons training in preparation, and explained his motivation to go back to Ukraine following the Vladimir Putin-led invasion of his country.
The Ukrainian revealed that it had been an extremely tough decision for him to come back to Ukraine to fight, with his father being particularly anxious about the decision. He also said that leaving him while coming into the country was a tough decision. “It was my decision and no one can stop me with my decisions. My father was sad. It was tough when we split. He was very worried and obviously, no one wanted me to be here. I preferred to stay out of the country,” revealed Dolgopolov.
He revealed that despite initially planning to stay out of Ukraine and help in whatever means he could, it eventually became apparent that it was not being effective. This was when he started planning to go to Ukraine.
“I thought I would be more useful outside of the country for the first few days because obviously, I’m not in the army, I’m not going to be the first one fighting. And then after a few days, once it settled down, the fights got understandable where we were doing good, where we were doing not very good. And then I started to plan to go back,” added Dolgopolov.
Despite not knowing how to shoot at all, Dolgopolov revealed that he received training by the military and can now shoot. He also revealed that the soldiers not only need to fight but also know the reason behind the fight. This is where a man of his profile can help according to him. “The soldiers are fighting but they need to know what they’re fighting for. If everyone leaves the country, leaves their homes and there’s an empty city just of soldiers, how are they going to really have the motivation to fight until the end?” said the Ukrainian.
Despite seeing many famous personalities staying out of the country during the time of crisis, Dolgopolov believes that his being here would really send a message, and thus he decided to join in. “I think that being here really sends a message and I see many guys from sports or singers and all kinds of famous people from our country have stayed or are coming back to help out,” concluded Dolgopolov.
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Akash Mandal
(433 Articles Published)