Despite Russia's war of invasion, Ukraine has the seventh largest team with 140 para-athletes at the ongoing European Championship in Paris.
One of them is the sitting volleyball player Dmytro Melnyk. Ten days before the games started in the French capital, the 45-year-old was in Tjasiv Jar in eastern Ukraine.
There, he is in command of a platoon of 35 soldiers, which is part of Ukraine's defense of the strategically important city.
The interpreter broke down
I hope there are as many left. I haven't called anyone and there is no possibility of communication there, since they are in the midst of hell, says Dmytro Melnyk, via an interpreter, after the Ukrainian team's premiere loss against Iran.
In Tjasiv Jar – which is located near the previously heavily contested Bachmut – battles have been raging since February. In July, the Ukrainian military reported that Russia has lost up to 5,000 soldiers in battles over a single city district.
When Melnyk met journalists, the interpreter broke down in tears when the volleyball player was asked about how many men and women he has in his platoon.
I thank God that I don't have any women under my command. Not because they would be bad soldiers, but because it's very scary to send women to places where there is a high probability of being killed, he says according to the AP news agency.
Melnyk is a Paralympics veteran and was part of the team when Ukraine finished fifth in Rio de Janeiro 2016. He injured his left leg in an accident when he was 18 years old and it has been about five centimeters shorter than his right leg since then.
Constant bombings
It took a lot of persuasion for the Ukrainian military to let him enlist after Russia's invasion in February 2022. After eight months of persistent visits to military recruitment offices and "a little trickery", it worked, he says.
Teammate Jevhen Korinets is proud that Dmytro Melnyk is part of the Ukrainian team in Paris.
It's tough for him because it's a 24/7 job being part of the army. The constant bombings and life-threatening situations are stressful, and it's an achievement for us and Dmytro that we're here, says Jevhen Korinets via an interpreter.
