Oleksandr Usyk opens up on horror of front line in Ukraine war where he saw lost limbs and ‘everything looked dead’

OLEKSANDR USYK’S Ukraine Independence Day celebrations today will be haunted by severed limbs, ­‘zombies’ and abandoned playgrounds.

The war-torn nation left the Soviet Union 32 years ago  — and is now fighting for its existence following Russia’s invasion.

World heavyweight champ Usyk chose this weekend to defend his WBA, IBF and WBO crowns against Daniel Dubois in Wroclaw, a Polish city that has welcomed around 250,000 Ukrainians since the war started 18 months ago.

Forty thousand of them will pack the local football stadium on Saturday night to watch their hero take on Londoner Dubois.

At 300 miles from the Ukrainian border, it is the closest Usyk has got to fighting at home since 2015 and should be a blue and yellow parade of national pride.

But the father of three, whe spent time on the front line in the East Ukraine ghost town of Niu-York, has lost friends, been separated from his family and remains troubled by  his experiences.

He explained: “Through binoculars, from 900 metres, I saw my enemies running, exploding tanks and broken houses. I saw people with no legs and arms.

“I saw people walking but looking like they were dead.

“When I was going in the car around the city, I realised it was a dead city. I saw children’s toys and playgrounds but everything looked dead, there was no energy in the city.

“I realised that one day that place, on that ground, kids were playing. But now it is dead.”

The former Olympic gold medallist and undisputed cruiserweight king regularly speaks to Ukraine fighters.

He added: “I get a lot of text messages from my fans and friends on the front line.

“I sometimes speak to my friends on the phone and I can hear missiles exploding in the background. I can hear the sounds of bombing.

“The people I speak to say, ‘Brother, I will call you back, if I am still alive’. Thankfully, most of the time, they stay alive.”

Usyk has not fought since beating Anthony Joshua for the second time in Saudi Arabia 12 months ago.

It is staggering that the southpaw genius has had the mental strength to twice dominate AJ and now get ready to dice with Dynamite Dubois who, at 25, is 11 years younger than the champ.

But Usyk insists he is just a simple family man.

He said: “For the last 18 months my family has been separated.

“My kids cannot live in Ukraine, they live somewhere else.

“But all of this makes me stronger. Some of the guys I was with on the front line did not understand why I was there.

“They asked, ‘Why are you here, what are you doing here? Some of the generals are not even coming to this place’.

I pray every day for the Lord to give me more understanding of what is going on in Ukraine.

Oleksandr Usyk

“I told them, ‘I am not a general, just a regular Ukrainian guy’.

“If I can bring them just a little bit of enjoyment, I would fight every day.

“Because of where they are, they don’t have anything else to do, or look at, other than fighting for ­freedom. But we are going to get  that freedom.”

You would expect a prize fighter suffering like this to be a terrifying force, fuelled by vengeance and desperate to cause damage on every opponent, in and outside of the ropes.

But Usyk somehow manages to lean on his religion and pure humanity to hope for a resolution.

He said: “I pray every day for the Lord to give me more understanding of what is going on in Ukraine.

“I don’t want to be angry at people, I want to love this world as it is.

“I understand why God takes something away from us, why he takes us on to a hard road.

“Before God gives you something big, he is going to take something small away from you.

“But you cannot give up, you have to fight until the end.”