I HELPED A UKRAINIAN FRIEND. I COULDN'T ACT DIFFERENTLY
When on 24 February 2022. Russia invaded Ukraine Michalina Diakow, an international football referee, decided to do everything she could to help her football friend in the besieged city. “Eight days passed between the decision to leave Kharkiv and the moment they crossed the border. That's how long it took them to cross the entire country. The war was raging all around, there were roadblocks, detours, rockets flying over their heads,” recalls Michalina Diakow, who provided Dmytro Krivushkin and his family with support.
“Dmytro looked at all this and could not believe that they were already safe. In Kharkov they were only metres away from the Russian soldiers. Here it was a completely different world for them. We in the sporting community know each other well, we often see each other at sporting events in many places in Europe and the world. I can't imagine that I could have been indifferent to the tragedy of my Ukrainian friends – after all, they wouldn't have left me either!”
In Poland, Dmytro Krivushkin received a warm welcome from the refereeing community. “Just two weeks after arriving in Poland, Dima was invited to a workshop for professional judges in Spała,” recalls Michalina Diakow, for whom this story became an inspiration to help other Ukrainian families. “When I saw that someone was short of nappies for their children, for example, I organised a collection – among family, friends, neighbours. When I went to the offices looking for help for Dima's family, I met other Ukrainians who had fled to Poland before the war, listened to their stories and helped in everything I could.”
The Polish sports community is constantly involved in helping Ukraine and the people forced to flee the war. “There have been many expressions of support for Ukraine. This solidarity continues today, we remember Ukraine before matches and during games.”
