EGN NEWS DESK
Many Ukrainians have been up within the early hours of Sunday morning, for as soon as to not search shelter from incoming Russian missiles, however to rejoice the Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk turning into the world’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
Mr. Usyk’s victory over the British boxer Tyson Fury was a uncommon piece of fine information for an embattled nation that’s struggling to include Russian advances, significantly within the northeast, the place Moscow has opened a brand new entrance.
President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the victory as a logo of Ukraine’s resilience.
“Ukrainians hit arduous!” Mr. Zelensky wrote in a Telegram submit round 3 a.m. that included {a photograph} of Mr. Usyk delivering a punch to Mr. Fury. “And in the long run, all our opponents will probably be overcome.”
Ukrainian troops are at present engaged in fierce preventing to halt Russia’s grinding advance all alongside the entrance line, and there are fears that some key positions could quickly fall. Russian troops just lately superior farther into Robotyne, a village within the south that was one of many uncommon successes of Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive final summer time.
Faced with such grim prospects, many Ukrainians watched the match hoping {that a} win would carry their spirits.
“This victory is superb for elevating our morale,” Valentyna Polishchuk, 54, mentioned on Sunday in Kyiv, the capital. “Things will not be good in our nation, and that is at the very least one thing good.”
Maj. Ilya Yevlash, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, mentioned that “unquestionably,” Mr. Usyk’s victory “had an influence on the morale of all Ukrainians, and we now desperately want such victories!”
Many Ukrainian public figures, together with former President Petro O. Poroshenko and the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, himself a former heavyweight world champion, joined within the celebrations, portraying the victory as proof that Ukraine was able to defeating a robust opponent.
On Sunday, one other Ukrainian boxer, Denys Berinchyk, gained a light-weight world title, including to the festive temper.
“We should do every part doable to guarantee that our subsequent victory is our nice victory,” Mr. Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.
With his victory on Sunday, Mr. Usyk turned the primary undisputed heavyweight champion for almost a quarter-century. He emerged triumphant after battling his method via a grueling 12-round battle in opposition to Mr. Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The parallels with Ukraine’s exhausting conflict in opposition to Russia weren’t misplaced on Ukrainians. “Here, each blow can change the course of the battle,” Major Yevlash mentioned.
Several Ukrainians on Sunday mentioned they hoped that Mr. Usyk’s victory would present the world that Ukraine was nonetheless able to successful.
“I’m very proud that Oleksandr has gained this award. It is essential,” mentioned Fedir Ilarionov, of Kyiv. He was standing on St. Michael’s Square, within the heart of the capital, the place Ukrainian authorities have exhibited Russian armored automobiles destroyed and captured on the battlefield.
Pavlo Velychko, a Ukrainian lieutenant who defends Ukraine’s northeastern border, struck a extra reasonable tone.
“It’s nice, constructive information for Ukraine,” he mentioned in a phone interview. “But our most vital victories occur daily on the battlefield. That is the place the eye of the Ukrainian nation and the world needs to be centered.”
