“After the war started, we stayed in Ukraine for a little while. But we always had our bags packed just in case we needed to leave there and then.”
Finally, the moment came for Oleksandr Ostrikov to flee.
The twelve hundred miles from Ostrikov’s home city of Uzhhorod to North Lanarkshire, where he became Scottish judo champion last month, is quite a distance.
But it’s the emotional and mental toll that this journey has taken on the teenager that’s been far harder to navigate.
Just a few years ago, Ostrikov was considered one of Ukraine’s brightest judo talents.
Twice daily training sessions would, he hoped, lead him to Ukraine’s national team.
Indeed, he was within touching distance of taking the step into Ukraine’s international set-up.
But then, overnight, everything changed for Ostrikov, and every one of his compatriots.
In February 2022, Russia invaded his country and instantly, the teenager’s life was turned upside down.
“I had done judo almost all my life – since I was four years old and I saw judo as my future,” Ostrikov says.
“But then the war started and my dad was telling me to skip training because nobody knew what was going to happen and in an emergency, he couldn’t get to me quickly if I was far away at training.
“My parents would even tell me not to go a walk with my friends because you just didn’t know what was going to happen. It got to a point where we just stayed home almost all the time.”
While the fighting was still some distance away from Ostrikov’s home, the overcrowding in Uzhhorod made his city “a big target”.
And that’s why, in the summer of 2022, Ostrikov’s mother, Lesya, made the decision to flee with Ostrikov, who’s known as Sasha to his friends, and her younger son, 9-year-old Karim. Ostrikov’s father would remain in Ukraine.
Lesya began her mission to find a place of refuge for herself and two sons, finally embarking on their journey to Bridge of Allan, where they were welcomed into the home of their sponsor family, John and Rhona Biagi.
It was, understandably, a surreal day for Ostrikov, who had only just turned 17.
“I didn’t want to leave Ukraine because my dad and other relatives were still there. So it was very, very tough to leave,” he says.
“I didn’t fully understand what was going on and when we were coming over, honestly, I didn’t believe it was happening.
“But then I started realising more and more what was really going on.”
Coincidentally, John Biagi, who has opened his home to the Ostrikovs, has a background in combat sports having competed for Scotland in Taekwondo.
The shared interest in martial arts helped forge a connection between Ostrikov and Biagi and quickly, the teenager ventured to his local judo club in Bridge of Allan.
Immediately, it became apparent that Ostrikov was a special talent on the mat and in his two-and-a-half years in Scotland, and with the support of the wider judo community, notably, he says, Bridge of Allan Judo Club, Sportif, Carnegie Judo Club and Judo Scotland, his rise has been remarkable.
Last month, Ostrikov won gold in the Scottish Closed Championships in the junior -81kgs category and this weekend, he will aim to add the British Junior -81kgs title to his name.
He’s confident of winning gold today, but in reality, what judo has done for Ostrikov since relocating to Scotland is far more significant than any one result will ever be.
Returning to the sport that played such a significant part in his “old life” has, he admits, gone a considerable way to making him feel “normal” again, at least temporarily.
“When I began doing judo in Scotland, it was just such a relief to not be thinking about what was happening at home in Ukraine,” he says.
“Really, that’s still the case. When I’m on the mat, I’m not thinking about anything else – I’m just thinking about the process of judo and how to get better. I’m not thinking about the war and that’s nice.”
“In Ukraine, the training is really tough. Every day, it was very hard. In Scotland, sometimes the coaches don’t want to be too hard on kids my age whereas in Ukraine, the coaches made us train even if we didn’t want to – they’d tell us that we’d thank them by the end of the session. And if we did something badly, we’d have to do 100 pushups at the side then get back into training. I did a lot of pushups. I think that’s given me mental strength when I’m fighting,” he says.
“I really enjoy the training in Scotland though because now, I can go and spend time with my friends as well as training and sparring whereas at the start, it was more about going to training just to train.
“But even now, every time I go training, I do it very high intensity – I'm there not to have fun, I'm there to train hard.”
Ostrikov’s life remains laced with uncertainty.
Of course, there is no definitive end point to the war in Ukraine and little certainty as to when the fighting will end.
Ostrikov rarely follows the developments in the war that are reported in the British news, preferring instead to get his updates first-hand from his father, who remains on the ground in Ukraine.
“I don’t watch the news very often because it’s very frustrating to see what’s happening,” he says.
“If I want to know, I call my dad and that’s the best way for me to find out what’s going on. The news is one thing but they can choose what to tell so it’s another thing completely having people to speak to who are actually experiencing it first-hand.
“My dad is doing well just now and he’s really proud of how my judo’s going – he was very happy when I told him I got first place at the Scottish. Really, really happy actually.”
Alongside his training, Ostrikov is studying Sports Coaching and Development at the City of Glasgow College – he’s one of the top students in his class – and on completion of his course, he has aspirations to go to university.
Both his mother and 9-year-old brother (who’s developed, says Ostrikov, a pronounced Scottish accent) also plan to remain in Scotland and already, Ostrikov has made enquiries about representing Scotland internationally, potentially at the Commonwealth Games in 2026, at which judo is one of the ten sports included on the programme.
Longer-term, his dream is to remain in judo whether that be as a coach – his brother also won a junior Scottish title last month – or in the business side.
It would be understandable if Ostrikov was bitter about having been uprooted in these most horrific of circumstances. Instead, though, he’s quickly able to list more than a few things in his new life for which he’s grateful.
“My life now is quite different from my life in Ukraine but even though something bad has happened, you have to find good things in it,” he says.
“Coming to Scotland has given me the opportunity to get a good education and just be in a safe country, where it’s unlikely a war will start.
“What’s happened has been tough, but I’ve got lots of good things here to focus on.”
