Oleksandr Usyk: Ukraine needs the UK just as I needed my team to become heavyweight champion

As Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk sends off Transport for London’s latest convoy to Ukraine, Tom Watling speaks to the athlete about the importance of the UK’s continued support

Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has compared the value of his team surrounding the boxing ring with that of the UK in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Speaking to The Independent from his country’s embassy in west London, he is under no illusion about the role the UK has played.

Just as his team has helped him defeat so many formidable, often much larger, opponents, so too has the UK helped Ukraine - with so many of Usyk’s friends on the frontline - halt Vladimir Putin’s considerable army.

“In boxing, I am the only one that goes into the ring,” he says, the British and Ukrainian flags flying together behind him. “But when I am in that ring, there are a lot of people around me.

“It is not only me. It’s about being a good team. And the UK and Ukraine, we are together.”

The Ukrainian boxer is in the capital to send off the latest convoy of more than 50 vehicles to Ukraine that otherwise would have been thrown away under the ULEZ scrappage scheme enacted by mayor Sadiq Khan.

The drivers will take the vehicles across Europe and into Ukraine, travelling nearly 1000 miles, eventually putting themselves in range of Russian missiles to ensure that Ukraine receives the help it needs.

Late last year, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Vitality Klitschko, a former heavyweight champion, sent a letter to Mr Khan urging the vehicles to be repurposed for Ukraine as ambulances, military vehicles and transport cars. After some legal issues, Mr Khan agreed.

Now, the latest Ukrainian heavyweight champion is sending them off, supporting what his friend Klitschko initiated.

“This is so important for my country,” Usyk said, pointing to the dozens of vehicles on the road outside the embassy, and the everyday drivers readying to set off on the mammoth drive to Ukraine.

“These are people that help Ukraine, whether it be cars, humanitarian aid, food, t-shirts, it is all very important because so many of our cities are at war.”

Oleksandr Usyk speaks to The Independent from inside the Ukrainian embassy (The Independent)

Former army chief Vlaery Zaluzhny addresses the crowd outside the Ukrainian embassy in his first role as ambassador to the UK (Provided)

At the start of the event, Usyk joined the new Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, former army chief Valery Zaluzhny, to honour those driving out. NHS ambulances, 4x4s and even a London red bus lined the street outside. All the vehicles were packed with aid packages.

It was Ambassador Zaluzhny’s first public appearance in his new role, and it was marked by a gratitude to the country in which he is now posted.

“This convoy shows the unbelievable power of solidarity and community,” he said, as he opened up the speeches. “You are helping us fight this war and giving us hope for a better future.

“Today’s gathering proves that together we can overcome all difficulties. Thank you so much for your contribution and your solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”

When Mike Bowden, chairman of Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership (SHAP), one of several groups sending vehicles to Ukraine, came up to speak, Zaluzhny and Usyk obligingly held up Mr Bowden’s Ukrainian flag behind him as he spoke. Emblazoned on the flag was the words “Peaceful Heavens for Kharkiv”, a nod to Ukraine’s second largest city, just 30 miles from the Russian border, that has been relentlessly bombed for months.

This is grassroots, English support at its finest, and they are being duly rewarded with respect from Ukraine’s most notorious defenders.

One of the drivers readying to travel to Ukraine is Kelly, part of the SHAP team, who asked only to be identified by her first name. This will be her 22nd trip. “I’ve been going since the start of the war,” she says, nestling into the driver’s seat of an ambulance. “I’ve never stopped since.”

Mike Bowden, chair of SHAP, (2L) works with others Swindon aid workers to load up the London red bus with supplies for Ukraine (Provided)

Ukrainian-born Serhiy, engineer Reece and Polish-born Piotr posed in front of their repurposed London bus, packed with humanitarian aid and ready to be driven to Ukraine (Tom Watling)

Another is Piotr Slawomir Maslag, originally from Poland, who is driving the London Bus with engineer Reece and Ukrainian national Serhiy. Piotr and Serhiy are both veteran bus drivers in London.

When asked why he has volunteered to drive the bus the same distance he would usually travel in a week, he says: “We just want to support people that need help. We’ll have some adventures as well.”

For Usyk, who took time out after the opening speeches to sign cards and hold up the flags of different organisations, including one for captured Ukrainian marines, his respect for those defending Ukraine is palpable.

He briefly volunteered for the Kyiv Territorial Defence Forces at the start of the full-scale invasion but after a few months, he left to continue his boxing career.

Hundreds of Ukrainian athletes, past, present and future, have died fighting on the frontline. But the best, like Usyk, are encouraged not to fight, rather to represent their country on the international stage.

That burden clearly weighs heavy on his broad shoulders.

“Sport is sport,” he says. “If you win, you go. If you lose, you go. On the frontline, no. If you lose, it means you’re dead.

“That is why UK help for my country is so important.”