Ukrainian paddler provides insight into how athletes have been affected by the invasion of Ukraine

Ukrainian canoe athlete Viktoriia Dobrotvorska described her first hand experience as an athlete dealing with the invasion of her country during an interview with the International Canoe Federation (ICF).

Dobrotvorska had been outside the country at a training camp when news first broke of what Russia deemed a “special military operation.” She explained, “I opened my phone and started to read the terrible news, that Russia had attacked Ukraine with a lot of bombs, and at that moment everything changed.”

Her mind immediately went to her family back in Ukraine. She stated, “I panicked. I went to my coach and asked him to take me to the border, I don’t care how, you should take me to the border. I will pass the border, I will go home.”

It was at this point in the interview that Dobrotvorska succumbed to tears. She then described her journey to be reunited with her family, who by then had made the decision to travel to Lviv.

Leaving from Poland, Dobrotvorska traveled to Lviv, where she was reunited with her young daughter and mother. She revealed that they slept in the train station overnight, along with other Ukrainians young and old, before boarding a train headed for the Polish border.

Dobrotvorska, her mother, and her five year-old daughter made it safely back to Poland, where she remains for the time being to continue training. She admitted, however, that “sometimes it’s really hard to keep going for training.”

She viewed training as a positive way to clear her mind and focus on something outside of the invasion, though she admitted to checking her phone frequently for updates on the situation in her country.

The Ukrainian paddler expressed her gratitude to the Polish canoeing community, stating, “we are really grateful, because they said we could stay as long as we wanted, and they provided food, they’ve let us train for free. And now we are still here.”

Proximity to Ukraine was also one of Dobrotvorska’s reasons for remaining in Poland. Her husband had not been able to cross into Poland along with her family, and she was able to remain within driving distance to the border.

She had already made one trip to the border to see him recently. She described that encounter, stating, “I saw in his eyes he wanted to start crying, but I told him ‘no, don’t do it. Everything will be good. We will meet again in a few days.’ When I crossed the border, I was crying.”

Her city had managed to escape the early days of the invasion without much damage according to Dobrotvorska. However, bombs had begun failing in her city by the time of her interview with the ICF.

When speaking about the effects of the invasion on her country, Dobrotvorska lamented, “they (Russia) destroy everything in our country.”

She was also questioned about how the invasion had affected her young daughter. Dobrotvorska replied, “she doesn’t really understand,” explaining that her city hadn’t seen much fighting or bombing so her daughter was more removed from the reality of the invasion.

Finally, when asked what people could do to help Ukraine and Ukrainian athletes, Dobrotvorska responded, “I think all of the people just need to pray for our country.” She added, “We need only peace in our country, and to stop [the war.]”