NEW DELHI: Tokyo Paralympics bronze-medallist Sharad Kumar is closely tracking developments related to the Russian military operation in Ukraine as he is worried about the safety of his coach Nikitin Yevhen there.
Yevhen is based in Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine and around 500km from the capital Kyiv.
"Just spoke to my coach in Ukraine Kharkiv, he is worried, he can hear bombing from his room, he is planning to move to his garage underground," Kumar tweeted.
Kumar had trained in Kharkiv under Yevhen for more than four years before winning a high jump bronze in Tokyo Paralympics last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced the launch of a military operation in eastern Ukraine.
Yevhen was earlier in India as a Sports Authority of India coach.
Kumar, who hails from Bihar and suffered a paralysis in his left leg due to spurious polio medication during a local eradication drive, is a double Asian Para Games (2014 and 2018) high jump champion and world silver medallist (2019).
Repeated calls to him from PTI, after his tweet, went unanswered but he did speak to ESPN and revealed that he heard Yevhen's wife cry while talking to him.
"His wife was crying over the phone and they were moving underground. I called up other friends in Kharkiv, they are all scared as well. I just feel terrible and helpless," he told the website.
The 29-year-old didn't just train in Ukraine, he also studied international business management at Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and has been vocal about his fondness for the country.
He holds a master's degree in international relations from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.
"Even when I was in Ukraine, I'd hear of military conflict. Of course not at the scale it's happening now. But it was sort of always on the simmer," he recalled while talking to the website.
Last year in September, Kumar was diagnosed with heart inflammation and had to be admitted to the AIIMS here for a few days after complaining of chest congestion.
