He played in Poland, now he joined the Ukrainian army. The athlete surprised fans

Although the war in Ukraine is not talked about as much abroad as it was two years ago, information about new attacks is constantly leaking to the media. Athletes are very involved in supporting the country in trouble. Some Ukrainian athletes have even decided to join the army themselves, knowing that it could cost them their lives.

Ukrainian hockey player joins the army

This is what happened to Andriy Kutsenko. The decorated cyclist joined the army after his career ended. He died in July while representing the 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade “Magura”. No one wants to end up like him, but there are many of his fellow athletes who also have the courage to make such a big decision.

Artem Bondarev has represented many teams in Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Romania and Poland over the years. He can boast medals in numerous club and national team competitions. In Poland, he played for JKH GKS Jastrzębie, with whom he won the Polish vice-championship in the 2014/2015 season. He recently donned the colours of Sokół Kyiv, but decided to part ways with them and, as a result, end his career for the second time. According to the sport.ua portal, Bondarev decided to voluntarily join the army (in Ukraine, there is a law on compulsory mobilization of residents).

– Artem Bondarev decided not to continue his sports career. According to my information, he decided to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine – club director Vyacheslav Lekkan told sport.ua.

Artem Bondarev played in Poland

Representing the team from Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Artem Bondariew was one of the most effective players. In 55 matches, he scored 17 goals and had 20 assists. In the final, he had to swallow the bitterness of defeat after a clash with GKS Tychy.