EXCLUSIVE: How a Ukrainian veteran athlete Oleksandr Kadkalo copes with life and work in war-torn Kyiv.

*Pictured above - Oleksandr Kadkalo competing in a trail race.

EXCLUSIVE: How a Ukrainian veteran athlete Oleksandr Kadkalo copes with life and work in war-torn Kyiv.

Ukrainian athlete Oleksandr Kadkalo runs the gauntlet every day in war-torn Kyiv…this is the true story of how a keen veteran runner and businessman copes with everyday life and constant threats from Russia. 

Exclusive report by Don Hale.

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

 

Whilst writing various posts for my blog, I occasionally come across some quite remarkable people, who both read my blog, and share my love of running.

This week, I have spoken with veteran athlete Oleksandr Kadkalo, who lives and works in war-torn Kyiv in Ukraine, who reveals the facts about coping with everyday life.

He is the founder and co-owner of a 25-year-old business that deals with energy saving and supplies equipment for heating and water supplies. 

We are both members of Strava, a running, cycling and sports website, promoting and logging activities, and sharing our information with the world.

Oleksandr is 67-years of age and remains a keen runner and cyclist despite all the obvious problems of heavy bombing, artillery shelling, missile strikes, drone attacks, and constant air raids, and tells of the perpetual disruption to general everyday life in Ukraine due to the horrific war with Russia.

He works at ТОВ "Еволюкс" in Kyiv, but says: “It is very difficult now, the business is barely surviving, because in Ukraine, more is being destroyed than is being built.”

His website reflects his sporting hobbies and also his interest in photography, and although he actively, still continues with the former, but says he hasn’t picked up a camera since the war started.

 

This is Oleksandr’s personal story about how he literally ‘runs the gauntlet,’ almost every day, and explains what life is really about in Ukraine at present, whilst facing the daily onslaught of constant attacks from Russia. 

He also has supplied a recent list about the repetitive number of air raids warnings and relates some amazing and defiant black humour accounts of survival and coping with so many life-threatening situations, explaining that despite all the problems, many people still run and compete in races in a very brave attempt to retain some sort of normality.

Oleksandr confirms how runners now have to run a circular course close to a bomb shelter in case an air raid siren sounds, giving participants an unenviable choice.

 

Oleksandr’s personal story

 

I was born in a village near Kyiv, I studied German, because there was no English teacher at school. I learned English on my own later. Of course, my language is not perfect, but I can communicate freely on general topics. 

I make mistakes, but I understand, and I am understood. Today I just pedalled, tomorrow I'll run. I have four kittens, all of them from the street. They are now treated, fed, and warm. They love me, and I love them.

In Ukraine, people still run, many people run. I see it on Strava. I meet runners during my runs, and I see them from my window. There are popular asphalt and trail locations, and they are especially crowded on weekends. 

I'm talking about the capital, Kyiv, but on Strava I see that people run even in front-line cities and towns. We constantly hear air raid warnings, but most runners, including me, don't pay attention to it. The bad thing is that during the warning, my Garmin either doesn't catch satellites at all, or writes the track incorrectly. 

With the permission of the local administration, we even hold competitions, provided that the organisers transfer most of the funds to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

However, there must be a bomb shelter nearby, so they have to run in a circle, and when the warning sounds, you make your own choice - to run to shelter - or to finish the distance, but official results in this case are not recorded. 

Oleksandr is shown (*above), with his girlfriend Irynka, and (right), on a run.

In my youth, I ran marathons in the range of 2:21 - 2:26, ​​now I run for my own pleasure. I am a pensioner, but I still work, because there is a catastrophic shortage of workers in Ukraine, because either someone is at the front, or someone has fled abroad, so women are now mastering men's professions. I love to travel but now is not the time. 

 

*Some of Aleksandr's feline friends that he rescued from the streets of Kyiv.

 

I want you to hear from a simple Ukrainian, without positions. Unfortunately, our country is corrupt throughout, someone gives their life at the front, and someone makes money on the war. We are not ready to be in Europe, but we strive for justice. 

So, I wish that our children, my grandchildren can live better. I cannot write more sincerely.

And in conclusion, I am very grateful to the people of Great Britain for their powerful support! I am also glad that you share any true information about life in Ukraine. Just believe me, it's not easy...

 

Footnote: Oleksandr’s determination to succeed and to tell his personal story is incredible, as he explained: “Just to let you know how often we have air raid alarms. We live with that...there is no choice. Either we survive as a nation, or we will not exist. And it’s Important to understand, that we Ukrainians, and we categorically do not want to be part of the Russian Empire.

 

*This is a link to Oleksandr’s photographic website. He is also on Strava

https://photographers.ua/OleksandrKadkalo/