However, he fled the country before the war and represents Ukraine in the traditional, symbolic for him, yellow-blue jersey of the first league Zlín Rams.
As Stanislav explains, the war with Russia actually started for him already in 2014 in his native Donetsk.
“During the first incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine nine years ago. I was eleven. We had to leave our house and move to Dnipro. That’s when I realized that my most important place is the ice surface. I had a dream to defend the honor of the country at the level of the national team of Ukraine,” Stanislav explains to Práva.
Ukrainian children have gotten used to their classmates, but the tears remain
Homemade
And he has been doing that for more than a year. He works in the junior national teams, his big dream is to get to the Winter Olympics in the jersey of Ukraine.
As he himself says, his weapon is a hockey stick, not a rifle, which many of his peers have been holding in their hands at the front for a year.
“In this difficult time, every citizen of Ukraine is important. Some are in the trenches, others deep in the rear. Those who celebrate their country on stage or on football fields are also important. I try my best to do what I do best. So that not only I, but also my parents, my coaches and everyone who knows me and trusts me, is not ashamed of myself,” says Stanislav.
Last February 24, he was woken up at four in the morning by bombs falling on Kramatorsk.
“The situation was not good and it is very difficult for me to describe and relive it. After all the chaos in which we found ourselves, the parents decided to go to the western border of Ukraine,” recalls the hockey player, saying that he lived with his parents in a shot-up house without electricity at eight degrees above zero and cooked food over a fire on the street .
He comes from Donetsk
In June, he traveled from Ukraine to Denmark, where he got a job in the youth team. I didn’t hesitate,” says Stanislav. His parents now live in Cyprus under the refugee program.
“Our house is in Russian-occupied Donetsk. It’s not safe to be there.” He doesn’t talk much about the war with his parents. “Just thinking about her is very hard on our souls. But we have to grit our teeth and move on, not stop and believe that one day Ukraine will once again become a peaceful and free country free from invaders,” the young hockey player points out.
He admits that he is very grateful to the Czech Republic for the opportunity to play the game in this country, which he fell in love with at the age of four. “People in the Czech Republic did not turn away from us. They set all the conditions for us, devoted themselves to me and gave me the opportunity to pursue my dream,” he claims.
He is also watched from afar by the Ukrainian coaches who led him in the youth and adult teams. “They are constantly interested in me, whether everything is okay,” adds Stanislav, putting on the jersey of the Zlín Rams, the colors of which match the Ukrainian flag.
Olena is still at the salon, where she found a job thanks to Prav
The war in Ukraine
