{"id":515370,"date":"2026-04-06T06:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/515370\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:10:07","slug":"we-dont-want-pity-ukrainian-war-veterans-face-off-in-amputee-boxing-championship-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/515370\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We don\u2019t want pity\u2019: Ukrainian war veterans face off in amputee boxing championship | Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Footwork decides a boxing match, they say. In Ukraine<\/a>, the tired cliche took on a new meaning.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, two Ukrainian war veterans faced off on prosthetic legs in what organisers called the world\u2019s first competitive bout between double-amputee fighters.<\/p>\n

Over three two-minute rounds at a venue in Brovary, outside Kyiv, the fight found its own rhythm.<\/p>\n

There was less of the usual circling. Movement was measured, each step carefully placed as the boxers found their balance.<\/p>\n

Once the heavyweight fighters settled, the exchanges were familiar to any boxing fan. Jabs flicked out, short combinations came in bursts.<\/p>\n

The crowd had earlier been forced to evacuate the arena after an air raid alert, as Russia attacked Ukraine throughout the day. They returned to something they had never seen before, and at first did not quite know how to react.<\/p>\n

But soon they were roaring \u2013 not so much for the punches, but for the fighters who kept getting up.<\/p>\n

Top: Artem Khrebet (left) and Mykhailo Drobotenko (right), both war veterans, during the weigh-in ceremony<\/p>\n

\u201cI am boxing to remind people that, whatever happens, Ukraine and its people will get through this,\u201d said Artem Khrebet at the weigh-in the day before the fight, standing topless, his arms thick with muscle.<\/p>\n

Khrebet, who went by the military call sign Grizzly, lost both legs in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Luhansk region when he came under artillery fire in the early months of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want pity. Even after serious injuries like mine, life goes on. Give us the opportunity and the resources, and we\u2019ll do the rest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ukraine faces a daunting task in rehabilitating the wounded after years of fighting in trenches and minefields. The toll is vast, with each amputation marking the beginning of a long and complicated process of adaptation.<\/p>\n

Estimates vary, but Ukrainian officials and international organisations say more than 100,000 people have lost limbs since the start of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n

Speaking from ringside, Scott Welch, a former British heavyweight champion, said boxing \u2013 long a source of national pride shaped by champions including the Klitschko brothers and Oleksandr Usyk \u2013 could play a role in helping Ukraine\u2019s veterans.<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, Welch has advocated boxing for amputees, often referred to as adaptive boxing, typically practised from a seated position in wheelchairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine has so many veterans starting a new life, a new chapter,\u201d he said. \u201cBoxing builds their confidence and helps their minds. It lets them feel invincible and put on a great show.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, two other Ukrainian veterans also competed in a wheelchair bout, for which Welch and his team brought specialised wheelchairs from the UK.<\/p>\n

For Khrebet and his opponent, Mykhailo Drobotenko, it was important to go further and fight on prosthetics. \u201cI wanted to test myself and show other guys, my fellow veterans, that despite serious injuries, you can keep living and improving,\u201d said Drobotenko, a former member of Ukraine\u2019s special forces who lost his legs after stepping on a mine.<\/p>\n

He described months of preparation for the fight as gruelling. \u201cOn prosthetics, when you don\u2019t have a knee, your functionality and balance are obviously not the same. In boxing, a lot of power comes from the legs, so you have to adapt. You rely more on your core, pushing from the body instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both men said the sport had become a form of psychological release, restoring a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraining helped quiet everything else. It offers focus, structure, and some sort of sense of normality,\u201d said Khrebet, who has been open about his struggles with mental health after his injury. \u201cThere are moments when you even forget that you don\u2019t have legs any more. It\u2019s therapy for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The camaraderie between the fighters was evident. At the weigh-in, there was none of the usual bravado or trash talk. But once the fight began, the men made clear they were there to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdaptive boxing doesn\u2019t usually involve winning or losing,\u201d said Igor Faniian, the fighters\u2019 coach who helped organise the bout. \u201cBut the lads made it clear they were in it to win. They kept asking why it should be a technical draw, they wanted that extra motivation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth are champions in life. Only one will take the belt.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the third round, Drobotenko began to lose his footing more often under Khrebet\u2019s punches. Drobotenko had lost his legs higher up than his opponent, leaving him with a less stable centre of gravity \u2013 an inevitable reality of boxing on prosthetics, where each injury affects balance differently.<\/p>\n

When the final bell rang, Khrebet was declared the winner, claiming the Ukrainian veterans\u2019 championship belt.<\/p>\n

In the changing room, Drobotenko said he had little time for excuses. His focus had shifted to the next fight. \u201cI\u2019m asking for a rematch,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not done with him yet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Footwork decides a boxing match, they say. In Ukraine, the tired cliche took on a new meaning. On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-515370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}