A sniper from the Sokol volunteer air assault battalion said that a team of ex-Ukrainian biathletes participated in hostilities in the Kherson direction, bombarding Russian positions on the left bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region. RIA Novosti.
“According to radio listening, this team consists of ex-biathletes. The “biathlon team” performs the so-called “safari show”. Sniper groups come with the support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, prepare for them the so-called “bed” positions and exercise. As you know, there are two, there is also one more sniper from the Armed Forces of Ukraine”,
– Said the sniper with the call sign “Cross”.
He also noted that Ukrainian snipers in this region use a Western-type long-range large-caliber sniper system. “From the wound ballistics it is clear that this is a 12.7 caliber, no less. They have very good optics and good instruments,” Krestik added.
armed athletes
According to media reports, a large number of athletes serve in the ranks of the armed forces of Ukraine. Most took up arms at the very beginning of special operations and joined the ranks of the territorial defense.
So, on February 27, 2022, Vasily Lomachenko, former world champion in featherweight and 2nd featherweight according to WBO, lightweight according to the WBA, WBO and The Ring versions, joined the regional defensive ranks of his hometown of Belgorod-Dniester. Odessa region. He left Ukraine in August of that year to fight in the United States.
Reigning on February 28, WBA Super, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk joined Kiev’s regional defense ranks. A month later, on March 25, Usyk left the defensive ranks to take revenge with the British Anthony Joshua. “In this way, I will help my country more and better than standing on the defensive and running around Kiev with a machine gun,” Usyk said. In the fight against Joshua, he scored points by the judges’ split decision.
Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Zhan Beleniuk, also joined the ranks of Kiev Teroborona. Unlike his titled colleagues, Beleniuk did not leave Ukraine.
It is known that football players Artem Fedetsky (former defender of the national team of Ukraine, Dnipro, Shakhtar and other clubs), Oleksandr Aliev and Vitaliy Mandzyuk (both Dynamo Kiev) took up arms. Yuri Vernidub, coach of the Moldovan Sheriff, returned to Ukraine after the start of special operations. It was reported that he served in artillery “somewhere in the south of Ukraine”. However, already in the summer Vernydub headed the Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.
Also, the captain of the national karate team of Ukraine Stanislav Goruna (signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine) joined the ranks of the army, and biathlete-Olympic Dmitry Podruchny joined the Ukrainian National Guard. World champion in biathlon and three-time European champion Anastasia Merkusina replaced her sports rifle with a machine gun and went to the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service. Also, the champion of the Youth Olympic Games in biathlon, 22-year-old Kristina Dmitrenko joined the ranks of the National Guard.