The full-scale Russian aggression became a rallying call for many Ukrainians, as well as for Ukrainian football player Mykola Zhydkov, who returned from abroad to join the army.
On February 24, the day Russia cranked up its aggression across Ukraine, Mykola was in Poland, where he had been living for years, playing for a local football club Węgrzcanka Węgrzce Wielkie.
"On the day the war broke out, he told us he wanted to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He said, "How can I stay away while there is a war which will determine the future of the country I want to live in?"
Mykola always considered his life in Poland a temporary thing, and we knew it," remembers Maria, his elder sister, talking on behalf of the family.
But due to certain commitments between Mykola and the football club, the player couldn't leave it all immediately. He didn't waste his time, however, pulled up his sleeves and quickly became a volunteer.
"He found and drove a car for my husband's military unit during the first months of the invasion, helped to search for and purchase the much-needed equipment and medical supplies in Poland and Germany. Back then, everything was quickly sold out in Ukraine," adds Maria.
When the football season ended, Mykola's desire to return home was still as strong as it was from day one. But this time the club let him go, arranging for him a rather loud send-off, which he wasn't so chuffed about -- he wanted to leave quietly. Maria says he didn't find this a heroic decision, as many considered it to be.
Soon enough, Mykola joined the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment, located in Kropyvnytskyi, his hometown. There, he earned the call sign "Shvydkyi" (Fast) because he excelled in meeting the required standards.
After he finished the obligatory military training, Mykola realized that his group was not required to carry out any combat missions, and this did not align with his spirit at all.
"He wanted to be useful, to be there, slap bang in the middle of it all, in the war zone. After several attempts, he joined a combat group as a flamethrower operator, receiving the rank of senior soldier. There he was given a new call sign -- "Sokil" (Falcon)," tells Maria.
Mykola held his desired position and served successfully, but only for a month. On June 1, 2023, he was fatally injured by Russian artillery shelling.
As his commander later told the family, Mykola's service wasn't about the time he had spent in the battlefield, but was marked by the large number of achievements he had made.
"One does not go through this many things in a year," the commander said. Numerous tasks and sorties were undertaken, many of which his family wasn't even aware.
Maria says, it was like a vibrant small life he lived there in one month.
Now, a street where his parents live will be named in honour of Mykola Zhydkov, as well as a football tournament that was already held in Kremenchuk.
And while his colleagues keep the memory of Mykola alive, his sister Maria also keeps the plans he shared with her close to her heart, such as pursuing the Q-course of special operations forces or diving deeper into military medicine.
Even though there are things he planned but couldn't accomplish, what he did will never be forgotten.
