Hyderabad: Over 5,000 kilometres in a faraway land, Indian Paralympian Sharad Kumar is worried about his coach as the weapons of destruction dazzled Ukrainian skies, pounded lands, and silenced wailing people scurrying to safety -- some to underground metro stations, others taking shelter away from the rumblings of missiles.
Kumar, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics last year learned the nuances of high jump under the tutelage of Nikitin Yevhen -- a resident of Kharkiv in Ukraine, from 2017 until before the Tokyo Paralympics.
An anxious Kumar told ETV Bharat over the telephone, "I spoke to coach last evening They are all worried as there is more bombing in his area. They are currently living underground. His family is afraid."
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The fear is palpable as the missiles ejected from the Russian armoury are "not seeing any passport," according to him.
Kharkiv is just over 500 kilometers from the capital Kyiv, which is currently firefighting an all-out Russian attack but reports claimed that the army is meeting stiff resistance even as scores of people are fleeing amid the mounting death tolls.
At the age of two, Kumar was diagnosed with paralysis in his left leg impairment due to the effects of polio. In 2014 and 2018, he became the Asian Para Games champion in high jump.
Under Yevhen's wings, the 29-year-old Kumar won two World Championships and an Asian Games medal. He worries about his coach's family who was there for him through thick and thin during his stay in Ukraine.
"Everything I won was because of him. I am worried about his family. I lived there in Ukraine for four years and He was the one who was taking care of me. If I was involved in anything, he used to be there," he said.
At the time of writing this article, Ukrainian health minister Viktor Lyashko said that 198 people were killed and more than 1,000 others wounded in the Russian offensive.