The Burchoks had a full five minutes on February 24 – the day the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began. A very brief moment for a family to decide their future life. But the bomb blast in the house next door, in which the Burchok’s son had been thrown ten feet through the air but miraculously survived, left no other choice.
The family grabbed the essentials: money, passports, some clothes, a tennis racket for daughter Anna. They had to open the garage with an ax because the gate was bent by the explosion. We drove from a suburb of Kyiv to friends in western Ukraine. “We were really scared. We had no other choice,” mother Olja Burchok told DW. The father, a doctor, stayed in the capital to help.
With the sparse luggage of the rest of the family: the daughter’s dreams of becoming a tennis pro. “It has always been my greatest wish. Tennis is my life,” says Anna Burchok. Until then, the twelve-year-old had trained six days a week, for at least four hours plus fitness training. She was among the ten best players of her year in Ukraine.
After a month without training in the relatively safe western Ukraine, the Burchoks then traveled to Leverkusen, where Anna can now play tennis again at Robert Orlik’s tennis academy at RTHC Bayer Leverkusen. “We are so grateful that we are safe here and that we were welcomed so warmly,” say Olja and daughter Anna in unison.
U17 footballers from Kyiv in Hennef
Also far from home is a U17 team from Kyiv, which, on the initiative of Stefan Rönz, member of the coaching staff in the Middle Rhine Football Association, can live in the Hennef sports school. The 50-year-old has had good contacts with Dynamo Kyiv for a long time and saw himself called upon to help immediately after the outbreak of war. The 28 junior footballers also came to Germany as part of an aid campaign and the connections to Vladimir Zharikow, the director of the youth academy of Dynamo Kyiv and vice-president of the football association in Kyiv.
“Wladimir has a lot of contacts in Kyiv and across the country, and he tirelessly helps to get people out of Ukraine,” Rönz told DW. “We are now making sure that the boys live well here, can play football and have a bit of everyday life. They are all happy that they are out of the country,” says Rönz. Daily contact with the parents in Ukraine is maintained with mobile phones and via the Internet.
But football is of secondary importance for young people at the moment. “First I want to go back and help rebuild Ukraine. Only then do I want to have a football career,” says Ivan, one of the young Ukrainian footballers.
Hard times for Ukrainian football
“The question of how to do sports, how to organize football training, is currently not an issue because it’s too dangerous,” Vladimir Zharikow told DW. “For security reasons, the authorities in Kyiv do not allow any major events, especially not with children.” The 59-year-old stayed in Kyiv and tries to shape and manage the lives of the young footballers from there day and night.
Vladimir Zharikov is the director of the Dynamo Kyiv youth academy
“I’m mainly involved in coordinating the training sessions of the groups that have gone abroad and organizing support for them,” says Zharikow. First and foremost, the current war situation is about protecting young players. “They are safe at the moment. The players have the opportunity to pursue their passion, to train, but also to go to school,” says Zharikow. How will it continue – once peace has returned? “It’s clear that Ukrainian football is going through tough times,” said Zharikov
Help for the athletes in and from Germany
“Our goal is that there shouldn’t be a sporting event in the world without protests against this war,” Jens Steinigen told DW. The former Olympic biathlonist is the initiator of the “Athletes for Ukraine” initiative, which aims to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine. “The aim of the association is to unite all athletes worldwide to set an example against war and for peace and solidarity,” says Steinigen.
The youth footballers from Kyiv are accommodated abroad
He himself grew up and was socialized in the GDR and says: “I know what targeted disinformation from the state can do.” The fact that sport and politics could be separated is the “biggest nonsense we’ve been told for many years. That has never been the case. Sport has always been abused and was happy to be abused,” says today’s lawyer.
In addition to many supporters, Steinigen’s initiative was quickly joined by prominent athletes such as Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Tobias Angerer, Felix Loch in tobogganing and figure skater Aljona Savchenko. The tasks quickly expanded. “Athletes for Ukraine” organizes donations of money and goods and aid transports to the Ukrainian border. “We also try to integrate the refugee children into club sports and use our contacts to provide athletes with training opportunities,” says Steinigen. “These are things that came up spontaneously,” says Steinigen.
Anna Burchok and her mother Olja found a new home in Leverkusen at short notice and also feel very comfortable in Germany. However, one thing is clear to them: They want to return to Kyiv as quickly as possible and help to rebuild their homeland. This is probably the case for many people from Ukraine at the moment.
