World No. 13 Ukrainian Tennis Player "Tried Joining the War with a Gun..."

At the Beginning of 2022 Russian Invasion, Volunteered for Military Service
"The Longer the War Lasts, the More People Die"

"A month ago, reinforcements from Georgia died, and another comrade lost his lower body."

Oleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine), a male professional tennis (ATP) tour player who participated in the Ukraine war, expressed the difficulties on the war front.

Born in 1988, he announced his retirement in May 2021. He once rose to world ranking No. 13. During his active career, Dolgopolov won three tour singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open. He also has a record of defeating Rafael Nadal (Spain) in 2014 and 2015.

Dolgopolov deployed on the battlefield
Photo by Dolgopolov SNS capture

When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, such a player voluntarily enlisted, which became a big topic at the time. Currently, Dolgopolov was assigned to the intelligence agency in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, but now he has returned to the capital Kyiv and is reportedly waiting for his next mission.

According to Yonhap News and others, Dolgopolov recently told the British BBC in an interview, "The Russian army roughly knows our location and fires shots, so you hear the sound of bullets flying for a few seconds," describing the local situation.

He continued, "If the bullet flies more than 1 meter away from where you are, it's okay, but you cannot know that in advance," adding, "Especially artillery fire or fighter jet attacks are dangerous," and "Once, a Russian mortar advanced very close to us, which was very dangerous."

Dolgopolov during his active career
[Photo by EPA/ Yonhap News]

Dolgopolov said, "Our unit does not have many fatalities, but there are many injured," and expressed concern, "Other units have many deaths, and the longer the war lasts, the more people will die."

He said, "To win this war, we need more weapons, but objectively, the situation is not favorable to us," and urged, "I hope the Western world realizes that this issue is not only about Ukraine and takes more action."

Meanwhile, the United States has begun to specifically consider a plan to seize $300 billion (about 390 trillion won) of frozen Russian assets overseas and support Ukraine. Recently, the New York Times (NYT) reported that the Biden administration has started urgent discussions with allied countries to seize more than $300 billion in assets held by the Russian central bank hidden in Western countries and use them to support Ukraine.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.