"I was at the front for eight months": a player of the Ukrainian Olympic team tells about his service in the Armed Forces

The full-scale invasion by a hostile country has been going on for 892 days. Many Ukrainian athletes have taken up arms to defend Ukraine. Among the athletes defending Ukraine are many European and world champions, medalists and participants of the Olympic Games. One of the players of the U-23 youth national team managed to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Vladyslav Velyten, a player of the Kolos football club from Kovalivka and a participant in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said that he served in the Ukrainian Defense Forces. He is the only member of the Ukrainian U-23 team who took part in combat.

"From the first days of the invasion, I joined the terrorist defense. First I was in Kyiv, then I was sent for training and then I was in Kramatorsk. I was at the front for about 8 months, two of them at the front line. You better understand what war is when you go there," said Velyten.