Bravery in the face of brutality

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This article was published 27/02/2022 (935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than 48 hours after fulfilling his childhood dream, Svyatik Artemenko was signing up to go to war.

Last Wednesday, the Ukrainian-born, Winnipeg-raised goalie signed a professional soccer contract with FC Podylla of Ukraine’s second division. The very next day, Russia invaded Ukraine.

With a Canadian passport, Artemenko had the option to return to Winnipeg to his immediate family, but he refused to entertain the idea. He’s determined to stay and help protect the country that he was born in.

After getting turned down the day prior due to being a Canadian citizen, Artemenko, who immigrated to Winnipeg with his family when he was two years old, successfully enlisted in the Ukraine armed forces on Friday.

“The road to your dreams is never easy. Unfortunately, the road to achieving my goal involves giving up the dream for a little bit to go and defend my country,” Artemenko told the Free Press in a video chat on Monday.

“We can’t continue playing soccer until the war is over. We need to end this war to continue playing the season so this is part of the process in achieving my goal.”

Artemenko woke up to a phone call from his parents early Thursday morning informing him that the war had begun and to ask him if he was coming home.

“I told them that there’s only one plan and that’s to go to the frontline and defend my country and my parents supported me with that,” Artemenko said.

“… I think it’d be really unfair for me to turn my back on Ukraine and live in peace and safety when there’s people my age, younger, and older who are on the lines putting their lives down for a country where I was born.”

The 22-year-old Artemenko previously played professionally for Winnipeg’s Valour FC, serving as the club’s third goaltender in 2019 and spending parts of 2020 and 2021 training with the club. Last year, Artemenko took his talents to League1 Ontario’s Guelph United F.C., a semi-pro team, and helped them to a championship. He also suited up for the University of Guelph Gryphons who went on to win the Ontario University Athletics title.

Valour goalie coach Patrick Di Stefani has known Artemenko since he was 13 years old. The two remain close today and Artemenko called Di Stefani on Friday to inform him that he was enlisting.

“He asked me to pray with him before he was leaving,” said an emotional Di Stefani in a phone interview.

“It was very disturbing. I hung up the phone and I was not a good man to be around that evening. It was very disturbing because he’s a young man. I understand what he’s doing and I’m OK with his decision, even though it’s not my right to say ‘Oh, I’m not OK with this,’ but I understand because Svyatik has always been very patriotic.”

“He’s a good man, very honest, always polite. I’m not surprised with his decision and the way he went about it. We had a long conversation about a lot of things that I want to keep private… (But) I just want him to come back safe and be able to resume his life and continue to fulfill his dream of being a professional soccer player because that’s all he ever wanted. Svyatik never wanted to be a soldier in war, he wanted to be a professional goalkeeper.”

With how quickly things have escalated, Artemenko said he only received one hour of training. Fortunately, he has some experience as he’s a few years removed from completing the Basic Military Qualification program with the Canadian Armed Forces in Winnipeg. He spent the past few days patrolling downtown Odessa — the city where he was born — but he is being redeployed first thing this morning on a new assignment.

“Every day, you hear explosions here and there a few times a day. You constantly see missiles go flying over the city, but thankfully, they’re not landing in the city right now. They’re all landing outside the city and most of them are being shot down by anti-missile devices,” he said.

“… There’s obviously fear deep down inside because this is an inhumane thing to do to go fight and shoot at other people. But at this point, your country’s freedom and passion for your country overcomes fear.”

Artemenko has received a ton of messages of support from Winnipeg’s Ukrainian community, thanking him for making the decision to stay.

“Even people who aren’t Ukranian are thanking me for what I’m doing, but this isn’t something to be thanked for. I think this is just the right thing to do,” said Artemenko.

For Winnipeggers looking for a way to help, Artemenko suggests people go to Ukrainian Export & Import Svitoch — a store on Selkirk Ave that takes non-perishable food items, clothes, and money and ships it directly to Ukraine for their refugee camps and military.

“The owner of the store is from Ukraine and has family here. He sends it over to a family member here just to make sure it’s actually going to the right destination and not to somebody’s pocket,” said Artemenko.

“… People are in need of food and clothes and even money for the military so we can upgrade our weapons and stuff. Any help is appreciated.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of...

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