Ukrainian veterans given a standing ovation at the Invictus Games
The opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the Invictus Games, a sports meeting between wounded soldiers organized on the model of the Paralympic Games, made it possible to pay tribute on Saturday to the Ukrainian team. Its members, who made the trip to the city of The Hague, in the Netherlands, despite the invasion of the country by Russia on February 24, received a standing ovation from the public.
“Your courage and your choice to come and be here cannot be overemphasized”, said Prince Harry, present at the opening ceremony. The team said they came “on this world stage not just to show [sa] force but to say [sa] truth “related Harry.
We think about “members of your team who cannot be here because they are fighting on the front line”, declared for his part the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, during the ceremony. “And of course we are thinking of those Ukrainians from the Invictus community who paid the ultimate price for their fight during the war”he added.
The Ukrainian team has indeed deplored the death of several members of the Invictus community since the beginning of the fighting, as well as the absence of a participant, who would be imprisoned in Mariupol. The team’s coach, Dmytro Sydoruk, winner of a silver medal at the third edition of the Invictus Games in 2017, was killed on the battlefront two weeks ago.
More than 500 participants from more than sixteen nations are taking part in the event, which has been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is due to end on April 22.