Motor Zaporizhschja was the flagship club in Ukrainian handball – and has been playing in the 2nd Bundesliga since this season. A stroke of luck for the athletes, but also a burden – because meanwhile their peers are defending their homeland in the war against Russia.
Motor Zaporischschja was a handball powerhouse in the Ukraine – like THW Kiel in this country: record champions, Champions League participants, the team peppered with national players. But since the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine a year ago, that’s all in the past. The never-ending suffering at home has turned carefree athletes into thoughtful, sometimes sad and insecure people. They now practice their sport as guests in the 2nd handball Bundesliga and should also bring joy to the fans at home. But her guilty conscience keeps plaguing her: Can they have it good in exile in Düsseldorf while their peers have to fight at the front?
The duty to fight? – A distressing thought
“I often have these distressing thoughts that I have a duty to be there to defend my country and my family’s future,” says Zakhar Denysov. He is the captain of the team from the embattled city on the Dnieper, which was the focus of daily attention during the bitter fighting over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since March last year.
More than 2,000 kilometers away from brutal attacks against the civilian population, from the never-ending devastation caused by rocket and drone terror, he and his colleagues want and should conjure up something like joy of playing on the hall floor. “Handball helps me to take my mind off the whole thing,” said Illia Blyzniuk. But the words of the youngster, who has to celebrate his 22nd birthday far from home and family on February 19, sound more like talking to the NDR as if he had to talk himself into it.
Manager Karpushchenko: “A slice of normal life”
Dmytro Karpushchenko does the same. “Now we not only need news from the front, but also a piece of normal life,” says the busy team manager. He has his cell phone to his ear almost all the time, following the hourly news from his besieged hometown. Until the device has to be charged again, which usually happens twice a day. From Düsseldorf, the 45-year-old will continue to take care of everything at Motor, the works association of a Ukrainian turbine manufacturer. He knows: “If the company has a problem, we don’t exist anymore. We can continue our work here just because we belong to the company.”
Handball players are allowed to leave the country – thanks to special permits
His wife Oxana is still in Zaporizhia. It was shocking for both of them at first, but they came to terms with the situation – as best they could. “I only turn off my phone on the plane. Of course it’s not normal life. But we live – we exist – we work,” says Karpushchenko. “Just sitting around and waiting until it’s all over? That’s not our way!”
At the beginning of May last year he was allowed to leave Ukraine. This is actually not allowed for men between the ages of 18 and 65 who are fit for military service. But Karpushchenko got permission because he has had diabetes for 12 years. There are also exceptions for his players for the European League, the Bundesliga and the national team: “Our sports ministry asks the government and they then issue us permission to leave and enter the country every month.”
Düsseldorf agreed immediately
After a few months under Russian fire, he and his players understood it wouldn’t be over anytime soon, the manager says. He drove around 6,500 kilometers for two or three weeks to find a solution. “I spoke to the Slovak, Czech, Polish, Slovenian and German federations.” In Düsseldorf he was immediately accepted. “No one asked why we didn’t use the money elsewhere,” says city director Burkhard Hintzsche about the unbureaucratic assistance. Nobody was reluctant to give up valuable indoor time. “We’ve only had positive feedback.”
Player Kasai: “Confusion and emotional chaos inside”
Many top performers have left Motor Zaporizhia, but the club still makes up the majority of the Ukrainian national team. Coach is Gintaras Savukynas, a Lithuanian who is much more than just a coach: “My players try to be as professional as they should be,” he says. “But of course they often think about home.” Just like Oleksandr Kasai, who seeks contact with his friends and family every day: “There’s a tangle inside me, an emotional chaos. That’s how I try to calm myself down.” But the 26-year-old also says: “People in Ukraine now see how we play and fight. That’s very important.”
Captain Denysov: The burden on the psyche is growing
A constant mental cinema, this conflict between the peaceful life in exile and the unspeakable violence at home. “The longer we are here, the more stressful it is for the psyche,” says team captain Denysov. “No matter how good we are here, there is still our home, where our loved ones live.” At least Nadya, his wife and their two children can be with him. They live together on 57 square meters – the handball professional sees it as a privilege: “I have two therapists: my team and my family.” Son Matviy will continue to be taught from Zaporizhschja – via video link to distant Düsseldorf. “I’m doing very well in Germany, but I miss my classmates a lot,” says the boy.
Bohmann: hurdles cleared, schedule changed
The idea that came up last summer to let the top Ukrainian team play in the 2nd Bundesliga did not meet with immediate approval everywhere. But Frank Bohmann made the task an “affair of the heart”. The managing director of the Handball Bundesliga cleared up a variety of concerns and objective difficulties: “We took the hurdles and changed our game plan.” It was also a tough test for the motor team, which played in a league of nine before the war and is now up against 19 competitors.
Spectators: “Feel like in Ukraine”
“The fact that we are allowed to do the sporting competition together here is not a matter of course,” says David Kuntscher. He narrowly won the away game in Düsseldorf with TV Hüttenberg. But what does that matter – especially since the points for or against Motor Zaporizhia are taken out of the ranking at the end of the season. “Sometimes I feel like I’m in the Ukraine,” says Alexandros Chontzaisa, who has lived in Germany for ten years, from the stands. Viewer Klara Romanova fled the war eight months ago and is happy about the distraction: “It’s good not to think about what’s happening in Ukraine.”
respect from all sides
The team trains five times a week; a lot of distraction, but also a high level of physical exertion. It’s like medicine, like a treatment for the psyche, says team doctor Ivan Shursha: “When the boys are on the pitch, all they think about is handball.” Jonas Truchanovičius, a Lithuanian employed by Motor Zaporizhia, knows exactly what the doctor means: “If you really delve deep into the problems, you can go crazy,” he says. “That’s why we prefer to stay on the surface.”
The acceptance of the competition also acts a little like balm on the battered souls. “They respect us for going on, for being alive,” said coach Savukynas. Captain Denysov agrees: “We only feel support and kind words.”
Karpushchenko: “This is your battlefield”
But the latent bad conscience remains. Is it right what you are doing in Germany? Shouldn’t they have done the same as other athletes from Ukraine and swapped their tracksuit for a uniform? “The younger ones in particular are very concerned that they are not at the front,” says Karpushchenko. “Their friends fight and they play handball here.” But someone has to show the world that Ukrainian handball still exists, the team manager said. That’s why he tells his players: “This is your battlefield. This is where you have to fight.”
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sports club | 02/12/2023 | 11:35 p.m
