Karate practitioners from Chernivtsi did not return to Ukraine after the competition in Italy

Karate practitioners from Chernivtsi did not return to Ukraine after the competition in Italy

The karate practitioners from Chernivtsi, Yevhen and Darya Pylypyuk, did not return to Ukraine after the competitions held in Venice, Italy, at the end of December.

This was reported to Suspilne by the president of the Chernivtsi Karate Federation, Oleksandr Pikulin, in a comment. reported

Yevhen and Darya Pylypyuk participated in a tournament in Venice at the end of December 2024 and were supposed to return to Ukraine by the established deadline. However, as Pikulin says, the athletes decided not to return, deleted their social media accounts, and turned off their phones.

"As their coach, I feel partly responsible, since Yevhen has been training with me since he was six, and now he is 25, so perhaps I overlooked something. I have been trying to contact them in various ways, through other athletes, trying to persuade them to return, but all efforts have been in vain," shared Pikulin.

As a result, the Ukrainian Karate Federation excluded Yevhen and Darya Pylypyuk from its ranks and from the National and Youth teams of Ukraine. Moreover, the UKF initiated the process of their lifetime disqualification in the World Karate Federation and submitted a petition for the revocation of all their sports awards.

"This leaves a significant mark on the team’s reputation, both in the sports community and in society. Just recall our mutual colleague with Pylypyuk, Oleksandr Lendel, who went missing near Bakhmut a year and a half ago. Or Mykola Yaremchuk from Chernivtsi, who died. Acting like this at such times is unacceptable," noted Pikulin.

Meanwhile, in comments under Suspilne’s Instagram post, Darya Pylypyuk wrote that she is currently in Chernivtsi and had no specific deadline for returning to Ukraine. She also believes that the petition to revoke all her sports awards is unfair since her achievements are not related to her husband. The karate practitioner did not clarify whether her husband Yevhen has returned from abroad.