The Ukrainian tennis star now fighting on the front line

The Ukrainian tennis star now fighting on the front line

Sergiy Stakhovsky, a former tennis star, was in Dubai on holiday when he got the phone call from his parents that he had been dreading.

They could hear explosions outside their house in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Russia had invaded.

He told about his decision to return to his home country and enlist in the military, and his experiences on the front line, Qazet.az reports.

"We all basically slept with the Kalashnikov next to us. When there's a strike, we need to be ready," he said.

During his military service, he spent time in Bucha. The town outside Kyiv, was occupied by the Russians for a month at the beginning of the war. There is evidence of civilians being tortured, raped and murdered.