By AFP | 2024-08-02

PARIS -- The damaged blue and yellow seats from a stadium destroyed by Russian troops stand at the entrance to the "Ukraine House" at the Paris Olympics.

Countries taking part in the Games have set up pavilions across the French capital to promote their athletes and culture.

But Ukraine House stands out. It is a gritty celebration of Ukrainian national identity and the fighting spirit and ingenuity of its people, both on the battlefield and in sport.

There are the homemade barbell made from a pipe and two tires like the one high jumper Andriy Protsenko used to train with when Russian troops occupied his home province of Kherson in the south.

A mockup of the Donetsk airport, a symbol of Ukraine's resistance, is on display.

The world's biggest sporting competition is taking place as Russia's invasion stretches into its third year.

With 140 athletes competing for medals, the Games are a chance for Ukraine to make sure its fight for survival is not forgotten.

Fencer Olga Kharlan was quick to dedicate her bronze medal, Ukraine's first at the Games, to more than 450 Ukrainian athletes she said had been killed by Russia.

Joy, anger, sorrow

"I ask you not to forget about Ukraine," Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi pleaded at the pavilion's opening last weekend.

Dozens of guests stood for the Ukrainian national anthem and observed a moment of silence, with French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and World Athletics director Sebastian Coe pledging continued support.

But despite the promises of aid, it is becoming harder for Ukraine to make its voice heard, especially amid fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

The program at Ukraine House offers a roller coaster of emotions from anger and sorrow to pride and joy as organizers seek to pull at visitors' heartstrings.

The country's athletes including Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who has just set a new world record in the women's high jump, are scheduled to drop by for interviews.

Visitors will get the chance to learn how to cook borscht, a beetroot soup, and an opportunity to watch "20 Days in Mariupol," a documentary that won the best documentary Oscar in March.

Countries of "the first world" need to see that "disgusting things" are continuing to happen to Ukraine, said singer Jamala, who won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

"OK, it's not fresh news, but we still need your help," she said.

"Our kids are dying every day. Our men are dying. Our women get raped."

'Look at this'

Next week the pavilion will welcome two children injured in the war -- eight-year-old gymnast Oleksandra Paskal and runner Yana Stepanenko, 13.

Paskal lost her leg in a Russian attack on Odesa province two years ago. But after undergoing rehabilitation, she continues to train and compete.

Stepanenko, who lost both her lower legs in a Russian attack on the Kramatorsk train station, ran 5km on prosthetics in the Boston Marathon last year.

"You should look at this," Sports Minister Bidnyi told AFP.

"Tomorrow this can come to your country."

The 44-year-old said it was hard for people to understand what Ukrainians were going through. "It's a different planet," he said.

In early July Bidnyi's wife lost her 20-year-old cousin as Russia struck a business center and a leading children's hospital in Kyiv, among other sites.

"I found her [the cousin's] headless body," Bidnyi said. "People should not be seeing things like this."

The July 8 Russian strikes on Kyiv killed 33 people including five children and left more than 120 injured.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy skipped the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris and is not expected to attend the Games. They close August 11.

As the Olympics got under way, Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, visited young patients at the devastated Kyiv hospital.

Zelenskyy is needed at home, Sergiy Solodkyy, first deputy director at Kyiv's New Europe Centre think tank, said.

"The situation on the front is difficult," he said.

He described the Olympic Games as "a celebration" and a symbol of peace and victory.

"Ukraine has been deprived of this for many years."