The joyous return of the Ukrainian team from the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia, was somewhat overshadowed by reports that one of its members may not have been wounded in combat.
But the accomplishments of the 15-member team, which brought home 20 medals, are still strong. Ukraine finished in fifth place after such nations as the United States, Britain and Australia, whose national teams had at least 70 competitors each.
The Ukrainians won seven gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals.
The 2018 games were the fourth to be held, and attracted 500 former and serving military personnel from 18 countries to compete in 13 adaptive sports. The prerequisite for the participants is that they have been “wounded, injured or become ill during their military service.”
Medals in question
Oleksandr Bielobokov, 32, won two medals for Ukraine: gold in the indoor rowing sprint and silver in the shot put. But as he was competing, a series of reports accused him of misrepresenting himself as a veteran who was wounded in combat.
Former Invictus participant and veteran Yehor Terekhov claimed that Bielobokov did not submit any of the required documents proving he had been in combat. Terekhov also claims he did not find any of Bielobokov’s commanders or companions that could potentially prove he had served.
Additionally, strongman athlete Oleksandr Lashyn said Bielobokov injured his hands on boat propellers when he tried pushing a boat out of shallow water when he was with his family, not in combat. Lashyn claims that Bielobokov told him this himself, and cites Bielobokov’s medical certificate that says the injury was a “household” one.
The organizing committee of Invictus Games in Ukraine responded that Bielobokov had been injured while performing combat missions as a volunteer in the liberation of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol from Russia-led militants in 2014. This, the committee claims, is confirmed by documents submitted by the Ukrainian Volunteer Army.
One such document says that the claims that Bielobokov was injured in combat are based on the testimonies of servicemen and volunteers who participated in the liberation of Mariupol. When Bielobokov allegedly fought and was injured on May 25, 2014, the Ukrainian Volunteer Army had not yet officially been founded, and didn’t have systemic records of its personnel, the document says. It is worth noting that this document was signed by the Ukrainian Volunteer Army chief of staff Serhii Ilnytskyi, who is also the captain of Ukraine’s Invictus team and Bielobokov’s teammate in the indoor rowing sprint event.
One Ukrainian Volunteer Army battalion commander, Andriy Herhert, says he didn’t fight alongside Bielobokov, but knows others who did.
“In 2014 Bielobokov was supervised by the Chief Directorate of Intelligence,” Herhert told the Babel news site. This means that Bielobokov could have been a civilian informant for the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol occupied by the Russia-led militants.
Oleksandr Bielobokov competes in the indoor rowing sprint, an event in which he won the gold medal at the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia on Oct. 22, 2018. He has a left arm impairment, an injury that his critics say he may not have acquired in combat, but in an accident. (Defense Ministry)
The fact that the city was occupied is the reason why Bielobokov originally described his injury as a boat accident to avoid exposure, says Mariya Podybailo, a civic volunteer in Mariupol. “We threw in the idea with the rotor blades,” Podybailo told the Babel. “Sashko (Bielobokov) was injured by a mine explosion.”
Bielobokov, approached right after the team’s return from Sydney, dodged questions about his service and injury. He told the Kyiv Post that the medical certificate “said what it should have said at that time,” that the Invictus Games organizers “were provided all the documents,” and that he won the medals not for himself, but “for Ukraine, because the athletes don’t get any financial reward for the medals.” Bielobokov said he is tired and that more information will be revealed at an upcoming press conference.
Medals won
One indisputable achievement at the 2018 Invictus Games was by Ukrainian Maia Moskvych. She won two gold medals: in individual novice archery and team novice archery. Moskvych, 28, is the only female on the Ukrainian Invictus team and the first Ukrainian woman to win gold at the games.
It is also a personal achievement for her: Moskvych took up archery only in March this year.
“I promised myself that I would do my best. And at every training I worked to the maximum, and eventually got the result,” says Moskvych. “I absolutely didn’t think about winning or not.”
Moskvych led the National Alliance youth organization, participated in the EuroMaidan protests and joined a volunteer battalion attached to the National Guard after the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine. She then served in two special operations battalions, before retiring due to post-concussion syndrome and severe back pain.
What she didn’t like about the Games is the busy schedule, which didn’t give her much time to talk to competitors from other countries. “We didn’t even have a free hour, because that’s where our state puts the emphasis — ‘Go and get medals!’ But this isn’t the main point of the games.”
Medals are an important image-building component of the Invictus Games for Ukraine. However, this is not the most important one. Instead of returning better trained and more experienced competitors from previous years, Ukraine tries to bring in new veterans to fill the team quota.
“The team is 100 percent replaced, to draw in as many of our injured veterans as possible, so that they can get proper rehabilitation,” says this year’s team captain Serhii Ilnytskyi, 48, who won gold in indoor rowing.
But there are also unfortunate cases like those of Oleksandr Chalapchii, who didn’t get a chance to produce his best result. Chalapchii, 32, did not receive his hand bike until a few days before the competition and didn’t even have a trainer on the team to work with him. He still finished seventh.
“I hope Sasha will continue training,” says Oksana Horbach, Invictus Games coordinator in Ukraine. “And I hope he will get into our next team and will perform with considerable skill.”
