Amsterdam Marathon to help Ukrainian combatants

Amsterdam Marathon to help Ukrainian combatants

Hi, my name is Yurii, and I'm on a mission to make a difference in the life of a true Ukrainian hero, combatant Oleksii, also known as FRODO. On October 15th, I'll be running the Amsterdam Marathon, a challenging 42-kilometer journey, but this race is about much more than just miles for me.

On 14.03.2023, while performing a combat mission, Oleksii came under enemy mortar fire near Bakhmut, but, thankfully, he miraculously survived. His lung and kidney were ruptured, his right arm was torn off, he had shrapnel injuries to his head and spine, multiple internal and external injuries, but he survived. At the moment, he is undergoing rehabilitation and waiting for further surgeries. But at the same time, Oleksii is training to fly drones with one hand together with the Victory Drones team, so he can continue to teach the Ukrainian defenders such an important craft and bring our victory closer. Now, FRODO needs a modern bionic prosthetic arm. “I am confident,” says Oleksii, “that I will continue to be useful to my profession and society, and the results of my efforts will be incredible!!!” (The full story of Oleksii can be found here).

Also, this marathon is significant for me, because I am going to run it with a Ukrainian flag, where I will place the name of my childhood friend Sergii Chernov-Evtushenko. Sergii is a brave and selfless individual who put the needs of his country above his own safety. On the second day of the war, at the age of 19, he went to fight for our country's freedom. However, no one could expect that on the 28 of March contact with Sergei would be completely cut off, and since then he was officially considered dead. However, Sergii's father refused to give up on his son and started an investigation to find him. He takes his friend and they go to the battlefield where according to official sources Sergii was killed. Under the fire of fighters and shelling they start to dig out the graves of fallen soldiers, in order to find Sergii's body. However, identification showed that Sergii was not among them. On 27 May the father found the photo of Sergii on a russian Telegram channel, where photos of the dead and prisoners were posted. Among the prisoners, they found Sergii. His father was finally able to tell Sergii's mother that their son was alive. Since then, a bit more than a year ago, the father is doing everything to return Sergii home from the russian captivity.

My friend is already 1,5 years captive, and we haven’t heard anything from him since 28 March 2022. Right now he is somewhere in russia, but on 15 October I want him to be with me. Placing his name on a flag is not much, but I want Sergii to feel supported and not abandoned, even at a distance. I want to spread awareness about the Ukrainian prisoners in captivity, so more and more efforts will be put into returning every single one home. I pray that very soon Sergii will be exchanged and returned home to his family and I will give him this flag that he helped me to carry during the run.

AND WHO AM I?

I am a Ukrainian student in the Netherlands at the University College Roosevelt. Even though hundreds of kilometers separate me from my home, I just cannot sit still, when I know that there's a war going on in my country and my family isn’t safe. And I'm absolutely serious when I say that I couldn’t sit still, to the point that I started running.

The idea about running struck in my head 4 months ago, when I had the pleasure of meeting Ukrainian soldier Roman Kashpur. In 2019 Ukrainian defender lost his leg, but didn’t lose his spirit. We met at the Brussels marathon, and when I saw Roman running through the finish line on a prosthesis, something jumped inside me. I don’t know how, but he inspired me, who never ran before, to try it myself.

I set a goal for myself: to prepare for my first-ever marathon in just four months. But I don’t want to do this for my personal satisfaction. I'm running to give other Ukrainian defenders, who've lost their limbs in the line of duty, the chance to run, jump, swim, dance, hug their families, and smile again.

In the case of Oleksii (FRODO), he wants to continue flying drones and educate others. After getting injured he understands very well that the enemy is strong, but we are stronger, because we stand united! And I believe that together we can help Oleksii to get the bionic arm to make his plans and ideas come true.

I would really appreciate your donation, so, very soon, we will see FRODO among those, preventing modern “Sauron” from enslaving us all.

Together, we can make a profound difference in the lives of these heroes!