A FORMER winner of the Ilkley Trophy tennis competition has joined the fight against the Russian invasion of his home country, Ukraine.
Sergiy Stakhovsky won the prestigious competition in Ilkley in 2018 and went on to play at the Australian Open last month. However, he has admitted that sporting sanctions alone will not stop Vladimir Putin and has signed up to be a reservist in the Ukrainian army. He says will 'use a gun if necessary.'
“I know how to use the gun. I pretty much hope that I will not have to use the gun, but if I have to, I’ll have to,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
Stakhovsky added that his children don't know that he is in Ukraine, and they think that he is away at another tennis tournament.
"My kids don’t know that I’m here. They don’t understand war. They’re too little to understand what’s going on."
He added that his wife 'didn't speak to him for a day and explained how he knows it is 'is extremely hard on her.
He is among a number of athletes who have travelled to Ukraine to join the resistance effort.
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