It is an astonishing story, which nevertheless testifies to the involvement of Ukrainians in the face of the war. Giorgi Dzanghirian, aged 83, courageously entered into the midst of the conflict against Russia. The former president of the Ukrainian rugby federation, which has only existed since 1992, was also a player in the modest club of Sokil Rugby in Lviv, a city located in the west of the country.
It was the club that relayed the information on its Facebook page before it was taken up by the Romanian president of Rugby Europe Octavian Morariu on his Twitter account.
In addition, his former club Sokil Rugby Lviv is very mobilized to help his compatriots. The USSR vice-champion team on several occasions in the 1980s announced ten days ago that they would use the club’s headquarters as a transit camp for travelers wishing to flee to western Europe .
Beds and food were offered. This is not the first time that sport and Ukrainian rugby have mobilized against the war. Mykita Bobrov, a young rugby player, had indeed been sadly shot at the entrance to Kiev, a death already relayed and deplored by the president of Rugby Europe, Octavian Morariu. The Ukrainian kickboxing champion Yehven Zvonok, also second in the general classification of the World Cup was also killed on March 3, in the city of Chernihiv in the north of the country, by the various Russian bombardments.
Other athletes must flee. For example Yulia Ivaniva, badminton player in Caen, who had to leave the Ukrainian capital where she lived with her daughter to go into exile in Romania, abandoning her husband who cannot leave the country.
