Many Ukrainians were up early Sunday not to protect themselves from incoming Russian missiles, but to celebrate Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It was for a reason.
Usyk's victory over British boxer Tyson Fury was rare good news for a country struggling to contain Russian advances, particularly in the northeast, where Russia has opened new fronts.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the victory as a symbol of Ukraine's resilience.
“The Ukrainians attacked onslaught!” Mr. Zelenskiy wrote in a Telegram post around 3 a.m. that included a photo of Mr. Usyk throwing a punch at Mr. Fury. “And in the end, all our enemies will be defeated.”
Ukrainian forces are currently engaged in heavy fighting across the front to halt a fierce Russian advance, and there are fears that some key positions may soon fall. Russian forces recently advanced further into the southern village of Lobotin, one of the rare successes of Ukraine's failed counteroffensive last summer.
Faced with such a bleak outlook, many Ukrainians watched the match hoping to feel uplifted by victory.
“This victory is very good for boosting our morale,” Valentina Polishchuk, 54, said in the capital Kiev on Sunday. She said, “The situation in our country is not good, but this is at least good.”
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Major Ilya Evrash said “without a doubt” Usyk's victory “affected the morale of all Ukrainians. We desperately need a victory like this right now!” Ta.
Many Ukrainian public figures took part in the celebrations, including former President Petro O. Poroshenko and Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, himself a former heavyweight world champion, who said the victory was a sign of Ukraine's ability to defeat strong opponents. He praised it as proof of something.
The festive mood increased on Sunday when another Ukrainian boxer, Denis Belinchyk, won the lightweight world title.
“We must do everything possible to make the next victory a great one,” Poroshenko said on Facebook.
Since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, Usyk has been drawing attention to Ukraine's battle on the battlefield by stepping into the ring.
He often wore a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle with long hair growing from the top of a shaved head. On Sunday, he celebrated the victory by waving a Ukrainian flag emblazoned with the symbol of the country's military intelligence agency.
Usyk is also an active fundraiser for the Ukrainian military. His charity organization, the Usyk Foundation, has raised $740,000 so far, according to its website.
However, the Ukrainian boxer has been criticized in the past for his seemingly ambiguous stance on Russia. Usyk is from Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is accused of having ties to the Moscow Patriarchate's Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly supported Moscow's war in Ukraine.
With Sunday's victory, Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly a quarter of a century. He won a grueling 12-round battle against Mr. Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The parallels with Ukraine's war of attrition against Russia were not lost on Ukrainians. “Here, every blow can change the course of the battle,” said Major Evlash.
On Sunday, several Ukrainians said they hoped Usyk's victory would show the world that Ukraine was still capable of winning.
“I am very proud that Oleksandr received this award. It is very important,” said Fedil Ilarionov from Kiev. He is standing on St. Michael's Square in the center of the capital, where Ukrainian authorities display captured Russian armored vehicles destroyed on the battlefield.
Pavlo Velichko, a Ukrainian lieutenant guarding the border in northeastern Ukraine, took a more pragmatic tone.
“This is great, positive news for Ukraine,” he said in a telephone interview. “But our most important victories occur every day on the battlefield. That is where the attention of the Ukrainian state and the world should be focused.”
