'It was silence for guys who are gone' - Ukraine honour players lost to war at Dubai Sevens

Nation's rugby team competing in International Invitational thanks to special dispensation from Ministry of Sport

Action from the Men's International Invitational match between Ukraine and France Militaire at the Dubai Sevens. Pawan Singh / The National

There are few worse places to try to observe a minute’s silence than the Emirates Dubai Sevens. At a raucous Pitch 2 on Friday afternoon, the players of Ukraine’s national team attempted exactly that, to honour compatriots they have lost to war.

As they formed a solemn line ahead of their opening game at a competition that is loaded with emotion for them, the Middle East’s great rugby carnival was just starting to simmer.

While they bowed their heads in contemplation, DJ Otzi’s Hey Baby was blaring out of the public address system. And a minute would have been too long, anyway, given the tight schedule to which sevens tournaments keep.

But a moment was all they needed, and then they were ready to honour their countrymen by how they played instead.

“It was a silence for guys who are gone,” said Vadim Sivak, Ukraine’s scrum half. “That is all we could do, nothing more, unfortunately, because it has ended for them. Lots of rugby players have died during the war, too many to count.”

It felt like an eerie coincidence that Ukraine’s first match in the International Invitational competition at the Sevens was against France Militaire, a side representing the French armed forces. Even when travelling thousands of miles to play in an invitational rugby tournament, they could not escape reminders of war.

Their players have had to get special dispensation from the government to travel to Dubai. The borders are closed to all men, who are required to stay in the country should they be required for the war effort. Only one member of the tour party, the team manager, has seen active service on the front line so far, but any of them could be called up in the future.

“We are all living our lives in different cities,” Sivak said. “We have players from Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa. Whenever we get together for a training camp, or get to travel for tournaments abroad, it is a good experience for us, to play together, and share time together.

“Our borders are closed for every man. No one can leave the country without special permission. Because we are sportsmen, we have permission from the ministry of sport. We can leave only for the tournament, and everyone needs to come back to Ukraine.”

Understandably, given the difficulties faced in daily life in Ukraine, Sivak said his side have experienced challenges in preparing to play in Dubai.

“Five times per day, there are alarms,” Sivak said. “When the air siren sounds, every restaurant should close, every company should close, and we have to stop our daily lives and go to a shelter.

“It is so difficult to live, not just to train. Everyone needs to know how the war affects us every day in Ukraine.

“In Ukraine we have a population of around 37 million people, and most of them love sports and love to play, but first of all you need to think about working and earning money for your family.

“There are lots of sportsmen in Ukraine. At the Olympic games in Paris, we got lots of medals, but what about rugby? In every city, we have a team, but it could be better.

“The main problem is the war is going on in our country. Unfortunately, lots of players have gone. From every city, there are players who are now on the front line.”

Ukraine have played in Dubai before, around a decade ago. Sivak himself has been playing in Ukraine’s national team, who are No 54 in the world rankings in XVs rugby, for the past six years.

He says all of his players have been loving the opportunity to play in the UAE, even if it has taken some acclimatising to, compared to their conditions back at home.

“We are not based in Kyiv, because every day there are Russian rockets and drones, and there are lots of dangers,” he said.

“We are based in Lviv, and every day preparing for this tournament, our field was covered in snow. In Lviv, it is zero degrees. Here it is 30.

“Every person in Ukraine wants to visit this awesome city, so for us this is a great experience. We can play and see the greats sights that Dubai has.”