16-year-old Anastasia is from Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. During her youthful life, the girl has achieved many successes in sports. Since the 4th grade, Nastya has been involved in freestyle wrestling. She has already taken part in competitions at the Ukrainian Championship, an international tournament in Germany and the European Championship in Bulgaria. Sport is her whole life. Thanks to her perseverance and responsibility, Anastasiia has learnt to make the right decisions, keep her internal state ‘in good shape’ and be active, brave and determined. This helps her to keep going despite all the difficulties she has to face in life.
The war changed absolutely all of Anastasia’s plans. Loud explosions, constant stress and worries had a negative impact on the girl’s general condition. During one of the Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia, Anastasiia’s father’s heart stopped, and the man died.
The girl had a hard time dealing with the loss of her loved one, because she and her father were inseparable. He always supported his daughter and showed his fatherly love.
‘They say that when a person loses something, they immediately get something new in return. So far, the war has only taken away my dear people, strength, motivation, self-confidence, and the desire to dream. But I consider myself strong, so no one and nothing can break me. I accept this pain, but I fight it and build my life in a new way,” she says.
It is still hard for Anastasia to accept that her father is gone. Her father was the best example for her. He became her first athletic coach, inspiring her to work on herself and achieve new successes:
“Dad did everything in his power. He told me more than once that all my successes and failures were his pride. He was able to support me in different ways on my way, so I am sure that it is thanks to my dad that I have an unbridled desire to reach new heights, no matter what.”
Anastasiia wishes all Ukrainians endurance and strength to fight to the end, because she believes that we deserve only the best! She really wants Ukrainians to continue supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine until we win. She says that our task and our duty is to be friendly to each other, to take initiative and help our defenders bring Ukraine’s victory closer.
