Longtime Dynamo Kyiv soccer club goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovsky promised to fulfill the wish of injured EuroMaidan activist Oleksandr Kolomiyets, whose hand was blown off on Jan. 19 from a grenade explosion on Hrushevskoho Street during a standoff between anti-government protesters and the police.
According to media reports, the 18-year-old student of Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture attempted to throw back a grenade that the police threw at protesters but it exploded in his hand before he released the explosive devise in the opposite direction.
Upon learning that the injured student is a Dynamo Kyiv fan through a Facebook post by Ukrainska Pravda reporter Anastasiia Bereza, Shovkovsky commented on her post on Feb. 3 that when he returns from training camp in Spain this week, he will bring an autographed jersey of midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko, including an autographed team soccer ball.
“Firstly, please accept by sincere regrets regarding the incident,” Shovkovsky commented on Bereza’s Facebook post. “Secondly…I will personally take responsibility for bringing the signed jersey and soccer ball to Kyiv and pass it on (to Kolomyets).”
The 39-year-old goalkeeper who retired from the national team in 2012, expressed outrage over the Nov. 30 early morning clearing of Independence Square when riot police used brutal force to disperse a crowd of mostly university student protesters.
In a Nov. 30 Facebook post the same day, Shovkovsky wrote: “I am not a politician! But I am a citizen! And my civic duty is to not remain indifferent to the tyranny that the powers that be have embraced! I have a right to free speech! And nobody! Nobody has the right to shut my mouth! I am one of the people! Therefore, I am the people! I am going to the demonstration in Shevchenko Park.”
Following the Jan. 19 incident on Hrushevsky Street, more than $20,000 in donations poured in to purchase an artificial limb for Kolomyets, Ukrainska Pravda has reported. Dnipropetrovsk businessman Borys Filatov on his Facebook page also promised to provide money for any injured people who were on Hrushevsky Street during scuffles with police.
According to Trust.ua, Filatov in particular promised to pay for Kolomiyets to receive medical care in Germany.
“I never thought it is appropriate to publicize my charity work,” said Filatov cited by Trust.ua. “But now I want to intentionally provide an example of my philanthropy.”
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
