By Mark Gray
2:00am PST, Mar 6, 2022
_
They're fighting for Ukraine. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on Feb 24, 2022, civilians have taken up arms to defend their beloved country. Among those on the front lines are Olympians, soccer stars and several of the biggest boxers on the planet — including Wladimir Klitschko, the second longest reigning boxing heavyweight champion of all time. Wladimir, who famously shares a daughter with former fiancée Hayden Panettiere, joined the fight early. "I'm sorry, where should we go? This is our home… we defend it," he told the BBC in an interview. Since the invasion was launched, Wladimir has pleaded for peace, but he's made it clear he will not hesitate to get involved in armed combat. Keep reading to see other Ukrainian athletes (including Wladimir's famous brother) who are defending their country from Russian forces…
RELATED: Celebs who've been photographed with Vladimir Putin
_
Former world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, the brother of Wladimir Klitschko, is the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine. Asked if he would join forces with citizens to fend off Russia, he told reporters, "I don't have another choice. I have to do that… I will be fighting." He added, "I believe. I believe in Ukraine, I believe in my country and I believe in my people."
_
Two-time gold medal-winning Olympic boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko was in Greece when Russia invaded his home country of Ukraine. He quickly hightailed it back — via Romania — and joined the Ukrainian army. He's now with the Terror Defence Battalion of his hometown, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. Vasiliy, one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet, has a fight still set for June. That fight, though, will be in a ring with much less at stake. A photo of Vasiliy in military gear carrying an M16 assault rifle alongside his town's mayor, Vitaliy Grazhdan, went viral.
_
Oleksandr Usyk, who became boxing's world heavyweight champion in September 2021, was in London when Russia invaded his native Ukraine. He immediately flew to Poland and then drove 500 miles into Kyiv to help out. He's now a part of a Ukrainian defense battalion. "If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it," he told CNN via an interpreter. "But I don't want that. I don't want to shoot, I don't want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice." He added, "My soul belongs to the Lord and my body and my honor belong to my country, to my family. So there is no fear, absolutely no fear. There's just bafflement — how could this be in the 21st century?"
_
2022 Olympic skier Dmytro Mazurchuk reportedly joined the Ukrainian military after the Russian invasion.
_
Former pro tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky left his wife and children at their home in Hungary and returned to his native Ukraine to fight. He's now a member of the army reservists protecting Kyiv. Once ranked the No. 31 tennis player in the world, Sergiy told CNN that it was a hard decision to make, but he doesn't regret it. "It's impossible to make that call without hesitation. I have a wife and three kids," he said. "If I would stay home, I'd feel guilt that I didn't come back [to Ukraine], and now I'm here, I feel guilty that I left them at home." On March 3, Sergiy — who beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013 — posted a photo of himself in military gear. "Never in my life I would expect that I will have to wear bulletproof vest in #Kyiv. It's a disaster the way RUSSIA invaded Ukraine…. Bombing cities…killing innocent people….World we must unite to make it stop.. to put putin where he belongs.. PRISON CELLAR," he wrote. One day earlier, he spoke about seeing innocent people losing everything. "We have to prevail…WE MUST NOT SURRENDER," he wrote.
_
Three-time Olympic biathlete Dmytro Pidruchnyi, who most recently competed in the Winter Games in Beijing in February 2022, enlisted in the Ukrainian military after Russian attacks began. On March 1, he posted an Instagram photo of himself in combat gear as an air raid alarm went off. "I'm currently in my hometown Ternopil serving in the National Guard of Ukraine," he wrote.
_
Olympic karate bronze medalist Stanislav Horuna, who represented Ukraine in the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, joined the Ukrainian army and then celebrated his 32nd birthday. "Just in case, if you wanted to make me a birthday present, better [to] send [that money] as a donation to support the Ukrainian Army and mention Ukraine in your social media," he said on Instagram.
_
MMA fighter Yaroslav Amosov said on Instagram that he put his family in a safe area but he isn't fleeing. The current Bellator champion vowed to "defend this country as best I can" against Russia.
_
Just hours after Russia began attacking Ukraine, Svyatik Artemenko — a Ukraine-born professional soccer player from Winnipeg, Canada — waited in line to join his native country's military. "Deep down inside there's always the fear of losing my life, and obviously it's a war, so it's normal to feel a bit of fear," he told the media. "But the feeling of pride and taking responsibility, it surpasses the sense of fear."
