Winnipeg goalkeeper trades soccer jersey for army uniform in Ukraine

Winnipeg's Svyatik Artemenko, 22, who was born in the major Ukrainian city of Odesa, said war broke out the day after he signed his first pro contract in Europe.

For a Winnipeg goalkeeper, a trip to his birth country of Ukraine to sign with a professional soccer club has turned into something else entirely.

Svyatik Artemenko, 22, who was born in the major Ukrainian city of Odesa and moved to Winnipeg with his family as a toddler, said war broke out the day after he signed his first pro contract in Europe.

“My mindset was to keep performing and improving myself on the field,” he said, “but the next morning, when I woke up and I saw the news and I saw everything going on outside, that kind of went down the drain quickly.”

Artemenko, who had most recently played semi-pro soccer in Guelph, Ont., for Guelph United FC, as well as a stint with Winnipeg’s Valour FC, said he decided to enlist in the Ukrainian military as soon as the war began.

After waiting two-and-a-half hours the first day, he was told Ukraine wasn’t accepting international soldiers, but as the war continued to escalate, he got a phone call from the military letting him know he could enlist.

“My safety and my health is the last thing I’m worried about right now,” Artemenko said.

“The first thing I’m worried about is the safety of my family members that are still currently here in Odesa. My other family members, the ones that are under 18 years old and over 60, they’ve gone to Poland. At the moment, they’ve been evacuated.