Patriotic Athletes in a Heroic Country – Macomb Daily

Dymetro Melnyk is both an athlete and a Ukrainian warrior. He is one of approximately 3,000 athletes currently serving in the Ukrainian military. More than 470 people were killed in the battle against the Russians. (Source: Ukrainian Ministry of Sports)

Melnyk is a drone operator in the northeast near Kharkiv, where there is heavy fighting. He has one leg shorter than the other due to a six-story fall that left him severely disabled at the age of 22. Now 44, he competes on the Ukrainian men’s sit-down volleyball team. Melnyk was granted leave from the front to lead his team at the recent Paralympic Games in Paris and has now returned to the war front in eastern Ukraine.

When war broke out, Melnyk tried to enlist, but the army rejected him because of his leg and pelvic injuries. That didn’t stop him. He spent his own money to learn to be a drone operator. The army eventually accepted him.

“Many people have healthy bodies, but they don’t have enough courage or strength to fight,” said his commander, Lt. Georgia Volkov.

That spirit of service and patriotism is a key factor in Ukraine’s success, engaged in its David and Goliath battle against Putin and the larger Russian military.

The Ukrainian team has done well at the Paralympic Games over the past thirty years. Their Paralympic team debuted in 1996 in Atlanta with 30 athletes. Vastl Lishchynskyy won the first gold medal at the Ukrainian Paralympic Games in the shot put.