Russian invaders claimed the life of Ukrainian athlete and defender Ivan Kovalchuk.
He was born on 14 June 1991. His sporting passion in life was field hockey. He was an athlete of the Vinnytsia Hockey School, and his first coach was Oleksandr Kulesha. Ivan played for “Olympia” and “OKS” teams and was a member of the Chernivtsi region team. Over the years of training, he received the title of Master of Sports of Ukraine.
From November 2005 to October 2006, Ivan did his military service. The skills he acquired in the army should never have been useful to him or any other Ukrainian, but fate decided otherwise. In February 2022, Russian troops launched a full-scale invasion that forced a lot of people to take up arms, not for training, but to save their families and homes.
In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a mortar gunner, Ivan served in the most difficult areas of the frontline with fierce battles. Every day he brought our victory closer, for which he gave the most valuable thing – his own life. On 15 April 2023, near Zolotarivka, Luhansk region, 31-year-old Ivan Kovalchuk was killed…