Ukrainian Paralympian practices his spike when he’s not flying drones over Russian troops
Dima Ukraine Volleyball
DNIPRO, Ukraine — An anti-tank mine for a dumbbell and a tourniquet to help practice his volleyball spikes.
On Ukraine’s front lines with Russia, Dmytro Melnyk, 44, has had to improvise as he prepares for the Paralympic Games in Paris.
When he’s not training, Melnyk is a drone operator dropping bombs on enemy positions or monitoring troop movements from the air from his base near the northeastern town of Vovchansk — the scene of bitter fighting as Ukrainian forces are staving off Russian advances in the Kharkiv region.
“Before the war, the Paralympics were my No. 1 dream,” he said via an audio message from the front line. It was one of several interviews he gave to NBC News over the course of months between September 2023 and June this year on the front line near Vovchansk and in his home city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine.
But after the Russian invasion in February 2022, his “priorities changed” and volleyball took the back seat as he decided to join the army. Today, his drone-flying shifts can last for up to 18 hours, and after getting some rest, Melnyk said he uses the brick wall of an old farmhouse to practice his digs, sets and spikes.
Rating: 5