Oleksandr Usyk describes how the first few days of the Russian invasion went for him

Unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk spoke of the invasion of Ukraine and where he was at the time in a new interview with The Overlap.

Usyk described how he received the news when he was in a hotel room in London shortly after his daughter’s birthday on February 24:

“My daughter had her birthday on the 24th of February. I go to London and I’m back in my room. I go on my phone, SMS, bim-bim, my wife [messaged me] ‘started war’."

The WBO heavyweight champion then described how he had to scramble to get back home to Ukraine to be with his family. The Ukrainian boxer eventually did pass through Poland's checkpoints where he was recognised by officials and was allowed to pass.

‘The Cat’ described being the only car on the highway going to Kyiv. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the road, there was 300km of traffic due to cars trying to flee the warzone. Usyk spoke further about how he felt when he finally got home to his family:

“I go to my house, it’s 6 AM, maybe 25th of February. People are sleeping, there’s just silence. I go to my room, see my wife, I slept for maybe 2-3 hours and bombs.”

Oleksandr Usyk and many other boxers from Ukraine, including the Klitschko brothers and Vasily Lomachenko, joined the Ukrainian armed forces to defend against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Check out the full video below:

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Oleksandr Usyk helps families move back into their homes after Russian invasion

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A Ukrainian woman named Diana Savenok and her two daughters were displaced following the war in Ukraine due to their houses being destroyed in bombings. In an interview with CNN, the Ukrainian war survivor spoke about how the war changed her family’s life:

"Our life was in danger and we had to do everything to save our lives and the lives of our children," said Savenok. "We stayed in Irpin for 10 days and every day we felt unsafe. It was very scary for the children," added Savenok, who fled with her two daughters to her parents' house further away from Kyiv.

Savenok recalled that her apartment was ‘completely destroyed’ due to Russian bombshell attacks coming from planes overhead. Savenok claims she cried ‘tears of joy’ when she heard about a new project by UNITED24, which is fronted by Oleksandr Usyk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to raise funds for displaced families to rebuild apartment blocks in the Kyiv region. The initiative will help 4,237 people return to their homes again.

Oleksandr Usyk spoke of his philanthropic efforts in the wake of the war in Ukraine, he told CNN Sport:

"I am motivated by the idea that I must help my nation, my people. If I have the abilities, if I have the strength to do that, if I can do it."