The story of a national guard who left professional sports and stood up to defend the Motherland

Artem Ivanov, a professional handball player with 12 years of experience, recently studied to become a psychologist and represented a sports club in Romania.

However, the man left his usual life and joined the ranks of defenders of Ukraine during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

The athlete’s story was told in the National Guard.

Previously, Artem participated in regional handball competitions, later his team began to compete in national ones. Over time, he moved to a Romanian professional club, where he played for 6 years.

Artem Ivanov. Photo: National Guard

Once, Artem came from Romania to Ukraine for a vacation. Solotvyno received a summons in his native Transcarpathian village and went to serve in the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine.

“He did not hide or look for an opportunity to move back to Romania. This does not befit a man. Now the man has signed a contract with the National Guard of Ukraine, and performs the task of protecting public order and important state facilities in Transcarpathia“, – the National Guard reports.

They add that after the service, during rest, Artem continues training with the local handball club “Carpathians“.

A National Guardsman at a handball game. Photo: National Guard

“You have to skip a lot, it affects the quality of the game. For example, it is very rare to get to actual game training. More often – for physical ones, because they are in the morning, and I can get there after work“, – says the national guard.

However, Artem does not stop training, because it helps to keep in shape and “catch up with offenders during patrols.”

Artyom’s task in the service is to protect public order together with his brothers every day.

“There are tasks to protect various important objects or diplomatic institutions. Together with representatives of other law enforcement agencies, we regularly conduct anti-terrorist measures“, – says the man.

His responsibilities also include identifying suspicious persons, checking documents, and preventing crimes. Sometimes he detains suspects in thefts and robberies.

First, the National Guardsmen receive a signal about the place of an offense or crime, the landmarks of the suspects, and then the patrols closest to the place of the crime are sent to search.

The athlete with his brothers in the service. Photo: National Guard

The man emphasizes that sports experience as well speed, endurance and strength they help him in the ranks of the National Guard.

“Absolutely all these qualities are very necessary for us in the service. The skills of throwing the ball hard and accurately are very useful when throwing grenades, for example. 50-60 meters is a normal distance for me“, – adds the defender.

According to him, in the service, as in sports, psychological education also helps him, because during patrolling he often has to communicate with different people.

He adds that by behavior, gestures or conversation, he can notice when a person is excessively worried or understates something – this gives reason to conduct a more thorough search.

The handball player also spoke about his ambitions: he wants to join the special forces.

“Sport is good, but I think that I will bring more benefit to our society if I stand on the guard of law and order“, – added the sportsman-defender.

We will remind you that an employee of a law firm, and now a Guardsman, went to defend the Motherland as a volunteer, performed combat missions in the Kharkiv region and provided fire support during the work of snipers and carried out “cleaning” of the area.

Read also: He came by truck from Poland to defend Ukraine: the story of national guard Mykhailo