Despite Russia’s full-scale invasion many Ukrainian athletes have managed to keep up their training, hoping their defiant spirit and achievements will inspire the Ukrainian people.
Moscow has for years sidelined opposition figures from elections and political life, a clampdown that accelerated after the beginning of the war in 2022.
Ukraine’s beleaguered soldiers are on track to lose one of their very few battlefield advantages over the Russian army – because the AFU depends almost totally on donations for small attack drones.