Zürcher Nachrichten - Ukraine sports stars joining fight against Russia

EUR -
AED 4.074348
AFN 78.016446
ALL 99.632691
AMD 430.125276
ANG 2.001452
AOA 1022.185011
ARS 1059.19379
AUD 1.663304
AWG 1.996663
AZN 1.890141
BAM 1.95546
BBD 2.24231
BDT 132.706945
BGN 1.95546
BHD 0.417727
BIF 3207.842712
BMD 1.109257
BND 1.442349
BOB 7.673667
BRL 6.209738
BSD 1.110507
BTN 93.299791
BWP 14.748438
BYN 3.634369
BYR 21741.442931
BZD 2.238511
CAD 1.506205
CDF 3153.618884
CHF 0.935032
CLF 0.037926
CLP 1046.498195
CNY 7.863419
CNH 7.869682
COP 4622.996862
CRC 583.298665
CUC 1.109257
CUP 29.395318
CVE 110.245847
CZK 25.053246
DJF 197.765643
DKK 7.467192
DOP 66.448456
DZD 146.879483
EGP 53.689673
ERN 16.638859
ETB 127.467256
FJD 2.461225
FKP 0.86358
GBP 0.84473
GEL 2.984335
GGP 0.86358
GHS 17.401977
GIP 0.86358
GMD 77.648405
GNF 9597.332687
GTQ 8.591507
GYD 232.349635
HKD 8.64762
HNL 27.519219
HRK 7.618478
HTG 146.624527
HUF 394.086268
IDR 17147.398392
ILS 4.143237
IMP 0.86358
INR 93.164136
IQD 1454.847254
IRR 46705.278687
ISK 152.600954
JEP 0.86358
JMD 174.369707
JOD 0.786135
JPY 157.837373
KES 142.98516
KGS 93.403678
KHR 4524.214023
KMF 493.069075
KPW 998.331474
KRW 1485.040811
KWD 0.338779
KYD 0.925439
KZT 532.537484
LAK 24532.738008
LBP 99450.422807
LKR 331.782361
LRD 216.562377
LSL 19.696178
LTL 3.275349
LVL 0.670979
LYD 5.287081
MAD 10.781927
MDL 19.323643
MGA 5045.123527
MKD 61.524312
MMK 3602.824416
MNT 3769.255622
MOP 8.914251
MRU 43.799391
MUR 50.981885
MVR 17.027519
MWK 1925.765443
MXN 22.162778
MYR 4.803643
MZN 70.853853
NAD 19.696178
NGN 1780.535853
NIO 40.882898
NOK 11.894609
NPR 149.280066
NZD 1.796659
OMR 0.426676
PAB 1.110507
PEN 4.212368
PGK 4.396236
PHP 61.830417
PKR 309.345658
PLN 4.285893
PYG 8578.509684
QAR 4.047997
RON 4.974801
RSD 117.007673
RUB 99.832656
RWF 1492.140775
SAR 4.164333
SBD 9.259888
SCR 15.236253
SDG 667.222339
SEK 11.428201
SGD 1.446143
SHP 0.86358
SLE 25.343537
SLL 23260.535519
SOS 634.689737
SRD 32.153491
STD 22959.386371
SVC 9.717312
SYP 2787.04244
SZL 19.690579
THB 37.43082
TJS 11.827445
TMT 3.893493
TND 3.371114
TOP 2.599771
TRY 37.703018
TTD 7.526692
TWD 35.541495
TZS 3020.675228
UAH 45.516193
UGX 4125.283328
USD 1.109257
UYU 44.852208
UZS 14112.548274
VEF 4018342.815906
VES 40.653047
VND 27304.368252
VUV 131.69322
WST 3.106944
XAF 655.843063
XAG 0.03972
XAU 0.000444
XCD 2.997824
XDR 0.824757
XOF 655.843063
XPF 119.331742
YER 277.702966
ZAR 19.804514
ZMK 9984.650719
ZMW 29.179931
ZWL 357.180396
  • SCS

    -0.6100

    13.23

    -4.61%

  • NGG

    -0.3700

    67.62

    -0.55%

  • CMSC

    0.0600

    25.02

    +0.24%

  • GSK

    0.5400

    43.67

    +1.24%

  • RBGPF

    58.7100

    58.71

    +100%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    25.04

    +0.4%

  • AZN

    0.0500

    83.05

    +0.06%

  • BP

    -0.4500

    31.9

    -1.41%

  • BTI

    0.3200

    38.61

    +0.83%

  • RIO

    -0.6800

    59.71

    -1.14%

  • BCC

    -0.6600

    124.13

    -0.53%

  • BCE

    -0.2000

    35.75

    -0.56%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0300

    6.07

    -0.49%

  • RELX

    0.3100

    46.2

    +0.67%

  • VOD

    -0.2200

    9.97

    -2.21%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.12

    +0.23%

Ukraine sports stars joining fight against Russia
Ukraine sports stars joining fight against Russia

Ukraine sports stars joining fight against Russia

From world boxing champions to football stars, top Ukrainian sports people are resisting the Russian invasion of their country, with some even returning home to take up arms.

Text size:

- Boxing brothers -

Even before Russia invaded, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, the current mayor of Kyiv, told AFP he was "ready to take up arms".

"I go to a shooting range. I can fire almost any weapon," said the giant of a man, who played a leading role in the 2014 Maidan protests.

The 50-year-old's brother Wladimir, also a former world heavyweight champion, has also volunteered to fight.

- 'I don't want to kill' -

Reigning world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk's thoughts at the beginning of the year were of defending his title in a rematch with Britain's Anthony Joshua -- instead he is now back in Ukraine to defend his family.

Usyk, who returned to the country as soon as the invasion began, said he was "defending my home, my wife, my children, my close ones" in an interview with CNN from the basement of his home in the Kyiv area.

"I don't want to shoot, I don't want to kill," he said, while adding that if he came under attack he would have "no choice" but to respond in kind.

Former world lightweight champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Vasiliy Lomachenko has also returned home to help defend the town of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky near the city of Odessa.

The 34-year-old posted a picture of himself in a military uniform with a rifle slung across his shoulder on his Facebook page.

- War on centre court -

Retired Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky, 36, hopes he doesn't have to open fire while serving with Kyiv's volunteer defenders.

"I know how to use the gun. If I'll have to, I'll have to. I pretty much hope that I won't have to use the gun," the former world number 31, who famously beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013, told the BBC.

Top seed women's player Elina Svitolina made her feelings known by threatening to boycott a game against Russia's Anastasia Potapova in Monterrey this week.

In the end, she played and won the game, wearing a yellow top and blue skirt, the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Several top Russian players have also come out against the war, including new men's world number one Daniil Medvedev, world number six Andrey Rublev and Russia's top female player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

- Premier League resistance -

Ukrainian footballers led by English Premier League stars Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko have also sought to rally opposition to the war.

"We ask all (the) world football community to oppose Russian propaganda, to show and tell the truth about war in Ukraine," said the Manchester City midfielder and West Ham winger in a video with 11 other top players.

The Ukrainian Football Association said an appeal by players had raised half a million euros ($556,649) for the army.

Russia has been barred from international football by FIFA and UEFA over the invasion, including the 2022 World Cup.

- Biathlete killed in battle -

A young Ukrainian biathlete has already been killed while serving in the military, the International Biathlon Union said.

Yevhen Malyshev, 19, was a member of the national youth team from 2018 to 2020.

Dmytro Pidruchnyi, a world pursuit champion in 2019, is also preparing for combat.

In photos posted on social media, he says he has joined the national guard in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil.

M.J.Baumann--NZN