Badminton Stars Use Global Stage to Highlight Ukraine’s Resilience 
Ukrainian badminton players Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr are using the 2026 World Championships in New Delhi to represent their country and highlight the human cost of the war with Russia.
Buhrova, who is from Kharkiv, recalled how the war disrupted her training, saying she and other athletes had to practise while air-raid alarms sent them running for shelters.
Because training in Ukraine has become extremely difficult, the national badminton team has established a training base in Italy. Kantemyr, who left Ukraine as a teenager, said competing internationally gives them an opportunity to make their country proud.
The athletes also criticised the International Olympic Committee's recent decision to provisionally lift its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, with Kantemyr calling the move a “big mistake.”
For the Ukrainian players, however, the championships are about more than winning matches. Their presence on the court has become a way of showing resilience, pride and hope despite the continuing war.
The World Championships are being held in New Delhi and run through August 23.