Viktor Kovalenko’s family does not want to leave home.
Top Ukrainian footballer Viktor Kovalenko, 26, living in difficult times. Kovalenko, who played in the Italian Serie A in Spezia, opened Gazzetta dello Sport the fate of their loved ones in Ukraine.
The Kovalenko family lives in Kherson, in the south of Ukraine. In an interview, he says the family is well off the situation.
Instead, his friend did not survive. Kovalenko told Gazetza that he has a picture in memory of his late friend.
– He hid in the shelter for five days before trying to escape the city. His brother and a girl also got into the escape car. At the first checkpoint, Russian soldiers stopped the car and shot both men. They did not even hand over the bodies for burial.
– The girl was left with them for three hours before she was allowed to leave, Kovalenko said.
Dad is prepared
Viktor Mykolenko brutally lost his friend. AOP
The Kovalenko family is in constant danger. He said escaping would be too dangerous because they could face the same fate as a friend.
In mid-February, part of his family visited Spezia as Kovalenko celebrated his birthday. The family returned to Ukraine a few days before Russia invaded.
– Uncertainty is frustrating. There is no information on how long this absurd war will last. H’erson has been besieged, and the nearest bomb fell about 15 miles from my home.
– In addition, my family thinks like many other Ukrainians: home is not left. If you leave now, you can be sure that there is nothing left when you get back.
Kovalenko’s father is prepared.
– He’s got a shotgun. He hopes there is no need to use it, but nothing else can be done if he is forced to defend the family.
Kovalenko is constantly sharing videos and pictures of Ukraine on his Instagram account and is working to raise people’s awareness of the ongoing Russian offensive war.
The midfielder is owned by the Bergamo club Atalanta, but Kovalenko plays in Spezia under a loan agreement. He has played 33 matches for the Ukrainian national team.