Mike Hutton: Ukraine is never far from the minds of wrestlers training in Hammond

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As much as the Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestling team tries to get lost in the intensity of its daily practices at Hammond Central High School, they understand this indisputable reality.

Their United States training trip doesn’t mean they can leave behind what’s happening at home.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now stretching into its sixth month. Sirens and bombs still go off daily. Innocent people, some who are children, die. Troops are sacrificing their lives to try to keep Ukraine free.

War fades from our consciousness the longer it drags on. News reports of it level off. We turn our focus to another mass shooting somewhere. At a block party in Gary, a parade in Highland Park or a mall outside Indianapolis. We go on with life, aware of what’s happening in Ukraine but the gravity of it fades. It’s a distant war for many.

Not for the Ukrainians.

Everyone on the team of 16 wrestlers and two coaches reports having family members and friends that were either injured, killed or are in danger.

The rhythmic slamming of bodies onto the padded mats are the sounds of a wrestling team hard at work.

It’s necessary, patriotic work for a war-torn country.

But it comes with a price.

As soon as the day is done, after they’ve gone to a RailCats game or to visit the building once known as the Sears Tower in Chicago, the wrestlers and coaches get on their phones and call home. Some call in the morning. Some call two or three times daily.

They need to know that everyone is OK. That no one was injured or killed by a bomb or a stray bullet. It’s a tense way to live life.

But there are no other choices.

Through an interpreter, Vladlen Kozliuk, one of their best wrestlers, said the facilities and hospitality are first class.

But his heart is in Ukraine.

He calls his mother every day. Kozliuk talks to his father occasionally. He’s in the military and serving in the hot spots. His location and duties are top secret. Even Vladlen doesn’t know what his father is doing.

“Everything is great here,” Kozliuk said, “but it’s much better to be at home.”

Kozliuk’s story isn’t unusual for the Ukrainians, who call their athletes “sportsmen.”

He was part of the Ukrainian military, working in the border patrol unit on Feb. 24, the day Russia attacked. All Ukrainian men are required to serve in the military from age 18 to 25. Because of the war, able-bodied men up to age 60 are eligible to be drafted.

Kozliuk was told by his superiors to return to training because he “brings fame to our country.”

There was an issue.

Most of the training facilities had been wrecked by the bombing.

Indiana stepped in to lend support. Governor Eric Holcomb helped secure a $95,000 grant from the Indiana Sports Corp. for the team to train here.

Hammond Central was the perfect location.

It had a new weight room, a pool and a second small gym dedicated to wrestling.

It’s also close to Chicago, which has a large Ukrainian population.

Anna Krysenko, the wife of Ukrainian wrestling coach Volodymyr Shatskykh, said that the team had to get out. Their budget for training was slashed and facilities were destroyed. Shatskykh said that 100 sportsmen have been killed and at least 300 injured. Military eligible personnel can’t be out of the country for more than 30 days.

“We tried to train but it was hard to call it training,” she said. “We didn’t have enough finances. We didn’t have enough people because they were spread out all over the country. Here is great. It’s one location in one place. We had so many sports facilities destroyed there. It’s just horrible. We have no idea if they will survive.”

Krysenko had her own close call. There is a picture on her phone of a bullet hole through the middle of her car windshield. The next picture shows blood running down her cheek. Shards of glass had flown into her face.

She was lucky. It wasn’t serious.

One of her university professors had a bomb land three hundred meters from her house, she said. It left a hole that looks the size of half a city block. Her friend has lost her memory and she has long-term health challenges.

Krysenko hasn’t talked to her father since June 20. Her family isn’t sure where he is, but they think he’s OK. He has no cell phone. There was a long stretch between April and May where they didn’t have contact with him. She is from Donetsk, which is on the Eastern border. It’s partially controlled by Russia. It’s not good there, but no one wants to leave their home.

“My parents are like, ‘I’m not leaving my house’,” she said. “If we go, the Russians will destroy it.”

There is a joke in Ukraine that goes like this.

The war is a great opportunity to see all your relatives.

Andrii Kulyk understands it well.

Nine of his relatives moved into his and his grandmother’s apartment, which is in the same city.

Kulyk had an uncle die in the first month of the war. He was driving in a car that was hit by a bomb.

People here have lifted their spirits. It helps. They were introduced at a RailCats game and Kulyk said he felt like “a movie star walking around the streets of Chicago.”

Kulyk said a lot of people “come to us and say, “We are with you. God bless you. Russians, bad people.”

Shatskykh said the trip is much bigger than finding a good place to train.

It’s about showing the Ukrainian people that the Russians will not stop them from moving forward.

“They are qualified sportsmen,” Shatskykh said through an interpreter. “They are well known through the world. We want to show people we are strong. We will fight to the end. Sports unite people. We want to show people we can do this in the field but in the arena also.”

Soon, they will go back to Ukraine and look for a place to train before September’s World Championships in Serbia. Some will go back to service. No one knows how it will be, but they will find a way to train even with the torched-out buildings and the bombs dropping around them. It’s what they do and they have to find a way to keep pushing forward.

Mike Hutton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. He can be reached on Twitter at @MikeHuttonPT.