2023-12-24 10:05:23
Dolgopolov deployed to the battlefield. yunhap news
Aleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine), who was a player on the Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) tour, volunteered for military service and jumped into the battlefield when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Born in 1988, he announced his retirement in May 2021, but the fact that a player who once ranked 13th in the world transformed into a soldier during the war became a global topic.
Dolgopolov won the tour singles three times during his career and advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2011 Australian Open. He also had formidable skills, defeating Rafael Nadal (Spain) in 2014 and 2015.
Dolgopolov recently gave an interview to the British BBC regarding the situation at the war scene and complained of difficulties.
He said, “The Russian military roughly knows our location and fires, so we hear the sound of a bullet flying for a few seconds.” He added, “If there is more than 1m difference from where the bullet is flying, it will be okay, but we cannot know that in advance. “It’s work,” he said.
Dolgopolov was assigned to the intelligence service in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, but is now back in the capital, Kiev, awaiting his next assignment.
He said, “Artillery fire and fighter jet attacks are especially dangerous,” and “One time, Russian mortars advanced close to us, making it very dangerous.”
Dolgopolov, who looked back and said it was very dangerous as the shooting continued five times more than usual, lamented, “A month ago, a volunteer from Georgia was killed, and another colleague lost the lower part of his body.”
Dolgopolov said, “There are not many deaths in our unit, but the number of wounded is increasing,” and expressed concern, “There are many deaths in other units, and the longer the war lasts, the more people will die.”
“We need more weapons to win this war, but objectively the situation is not in our favor,” he said. “I hope the West will realize that this problem is not limited to Ukraine and take more action.” did.
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