By Afeez Hanafi
As Russian invasion of Ukraine rages, celebrities from the war-torn European country are stepping out of their comfort zones to take up arms in defence of their nation.
Top among them is the professional boxer and heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, who has joined the territorial defence battalion and vowed to defend Ukraine even if it costs his blood.
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OLEKSANDR USYK
Prime Minister Vladamir Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, defying threats by the United States to slam heavy sanctions against Russia. But Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is putting up stiff resistance, with him and some members of parliament, including Oleksiy Goncharenko, wielding guns to defend their nation.
Speaking to CNN via a video from a basement in Kyiv, 35-year-old Usyk, who defeated Anthony Joshua in September to claim the heavyweight title belts, said he would resist both invaders and looters that might want to cash in on the crisis.
“If they want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it,” he said. “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.”
Usyk was in London, shooting sequences for an upcoming video game when the hostilities started. With the Ukraine airports closed, he flew to Warsaw in Poland and drove almost 500 miles back home and over the border to Kyiv.
VASLILY LOMACHENKO
Lomachenko is another famous Ukranian boxer now at the war front. Lomachenko, 34, was said to be visiting a monastery in Greece, but returned home. Instead of flying directly to his hometown of Odessa, he travelled to Bucharest in Romania, then drove for nine hours to the port and caught a ferry into Ukraine.
Former world boxing champions, 50-year-old Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir Klitschko, have also taken arms in defence of their nation. Vitali is the current mayor of Kyiv.
ANASTASIIA LENNA
Also, Ukrainian stars who have made their names in hip-hop as well as a former beauty queen have taken their patriotism to the battlefield.
Anastasiia Lenna, who represented Ukraine in the Miss Grand International beauty contest in 2015, took to her Instagram page in the days leading to the invasion, sharing photos of herself in military fatigues and holding a rifle.
On Sunday, Lenna also showed footage of herself at a shooting range, where she fired a rifle at targets.
She captioned the video: “Training. The invaders will die on our land! All world see this! Wait and see what will happen.”
ANDRIY KHLYVNYUK
In solidarity to his nation, a popular hip-hop and rock band BoomBox in Ukraine, Andriy Khlyvnyuk, has appeared in a video circulated on Twitter, donning military gear. He bore a firearm while singing a rousing melody.
Khlyvnyuk told Euronews that he drove his children out of Kyiv on Thursday when the full-scale invasion started.
“They bombed us. But what I hear now is complete support from everywhere, from everyone who knows me and listens to my music,” he said.
“Musicians are peacemakers,” he continued. “[But] now it’s not time for playing guitars. It’s time to take the rifles
