Ukraine's Yevheniia Kantemyr and Polina Buhrova (Instagram | Polina Buhrova) NEW DELHI: Yevheniia Kantemyr was 16 and nursing a knee injury when Russian bombs rained down on her native city of Kharkiv in Ukraine. 42 million inhabitants were forced to flee, including Kantemyr and her family.

Now, her mother and brother live 1,400 kilometres away in Slovakia. The 21-year-old, though, first moved to France and then Italy to aid her badminton career.

Her women's doubles partner, Polina Buhrova, has the same story. Buhrova was playing at the national championships when the war began in 2022.

In the immediate aftermath, as the country grappled with the sheer volume of attacks, they practised under bombs and were required to take shelter every time the alarm went off." The situation in Kyiv, in the capital, is terrible and my home is safe, but it's a very bad situation now, and it's not getting better after four years already.

Yevheniia KantemyrAlso from Kharkiv, the 22-year-old has been displaced from home and has travelled across Thailand, Malaysia, Denmark and now Italy to establish a training base. It has now been four years since Russia invaded Ukraine.

With talks frozen and frontline fighting stalled, the two countries have ramped up their long-range attacks. This has resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, with civilians affected most."

The situation in Kyiv, in the capital, is terrible and my home is safe, but it's a very bad situation now, and it's not getting better after four years already. So it's very sad and frustrating," said Kantemyr after her women's singles first-round win at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi.

At the start of the war, Buhrova reveals that she and her compatriots had their bags packed to run if the situation worsened. Unluckily for her, the bombs came down on the building next to theirs and, with the support of her ex-coach, she got out of there alive.

The scars of that "terrible feeling" linger, and she hopes "nobody lives through it." It's really hard for me, but that also gives me a lot of power, and I'm really proud to represent my country as a fighter and to show how Ukraine is fighting, believing and growing.

Polina BuhrovaBuhrova, a two-time Ukrainian national champion, wears the flag now as a badge of honour beyond her individual dreams. " It's really hard for me, but that also gives me a lot of power, and I'm really proud to represent my country as a fighter and to show how Ukraine is fighting, believing and growing," said the Ukrainian after posting a three-set win in her first women's singles match.