Ukrainian athlete tells of her desperate journey to rescue her daughter from war zone
Viktoriia Dobrotvorska (Photo by ICF)
LAUSANNE, March 8, 2022 - On February 24 Viktoriia Dobrotvorska was woken by the sound of her phone going crazy, as news broke that her country was under attack from Russian forces.
Dobrotvorska was safe in neighbouring Poland at a canoe slalom training camp. But her five-year-old daughter, her husband and her parents were back in Ukraine.
“I opened my phone and started to read the terrible news, that Russia had attacked Ukraine with a lot of bombs, and at that moment everything changed,” Dobrotvorska said.
“I panicked. I went to my coach and asked him to take me to the border, I don’t care how, you should take me to the border. I will pass the border, I will go home….
It was at this moment Viktoriia Dobrotvorska, not for the last time, had to stop to fight back tears, as she recalled the terror of not knowing if her family were safe.
After a series of stressful phone calls the 29-year-old organised to travel to Lviv, a Ukrainian city just 70 kilometres from the Polish border, where she would meet her husband, her daughter and her mother.
After an emotional reunion, the challenge of getting back to Poland and to safety began. For 24 hours Viktoriia and her family slept at the Lviv railway station, hoping a train would eventually take them away from the bombs and the destruction.
You can hear more about Viktoriia’s escape from Ukraine, and her fears for her husband and father left behind, in her interview with the ICF.
The Polish canoeing community is already leading the way, providing accommodation, meals and training facilities for a group of displaced athletes, including Viktoriia Dobrotvorska.
“We are really grateful, because they said we could stay as long as we wanted, and they provided food, they’ve let us train for free. And now we are still here,” Dobrotvorska said.
Several athletes have also expressed their disgust at public messages from the Russian Canoe Federation supporting their country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ICF has already banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from all ICF events, meetings, committees and forums, and has also stripped Russia of the three events scheduled to be held there in 2022.
The ICF is also setting up a Go Fund me account to raise money for Ukrainian athletes, coaches and their families caught up in this horrific attack.
Watch the full interview with Viktoriia Dobrotvorska here.
Dobrotvorska was safe in neighbouring Poland at a canoe slalom training camp. But her five-year-old daughter, her husband and her parents were back in Ukraine.
“I opened my phone and started to read the terrible news, that Russia had attacked Ukraine with a lot of bombs, and at that moment everything changed,” Dobrotvorska said.
“I panicked. I went to my coach and asked him to take me to the border, I don’t care how, you should take me to the border. I will pass the border, I will go home….
It was at this moment Viktoriia Dobrotvorska, not for the last time, had to stop to fight back tears, as she recalled the terror of not knowing if her family were safe.
After a series of stressful phone calls the 29-year-old organised to travel to Lviv, a Ukrainian city just 70 kilometres from the Polish border, where she would meet her husband, her daughter and her mother.
After an emotional reunion, the challenge of getting back to Poland and to safety began. For 24 hours Viktoriia and her family slept at the Lviv railway station, hoping a train would eventually take them away from the bombs and the destruction.
You can hear more about Viktoriia’s escape from Ukraine, and her fears for her husband and father left behind, in her interview with the ICF.
The Polish canoeing community is already leading the way, providing accommodation, meals and training facilities for a group of displaced athletes, including Viktoriia Dobrotvorska.
“We are really grateful, because they said we could stay as long as we wanted, and they provided food, they’ve let us train for free. And now we are still here,” Dobrotvorska said.
Several athletes have also expressed their disgust at public messages from the Russian Canoe Federation supporting their country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ICF has already banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from all ICF events, meetings, committees and forums, and has also stripped Russia of the three events scheduled to be held there in 2022.
The ICF is also setting up a Go Fund me account to raise money for Ukrainian athletes, coaches and their families caught up in this horrific attack.
Watch the full interview with Viktoriia Dobrotvorska here.
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