´óÏó´«Ã½

Ukrainian Olympic karate medallist Stanislav Horuna says he is ready to fight for his country after joining the nation's defence against Russia.

Horuna has no previous military experience but says he is prepared to protect Lviv, where he was born.

The 33-year-old won a bronze medal in the men's -75kg category at the Tokyo Games last summer.

"Mentally I am ready, ready to fight. Because I know I am not attacking, I am defending," Horuna told Radio 5 Live.

More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, according to the United Nations, many of whom have crossed to neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova.

Horuna is one of the Ukrainian soldiers helping people who have been forced to leave their homes during the conflict.

Horuna's life has changed dramatically since standing on an Olympic podium to receive his medal less than a year ago, but he believes that Ukraine "will soon be back to normal life".

"Of course not all Ukraine as many cities are totally destroyed, some cities are half destroyed and of course those people who left their homes and cities, now they are refugees," he added.

"Many of them have left the country and their lives changed completely. I stay in a relatively safe place and we are trying to help those people who have left their houses."

Horuna is one of several Ukrainian sportspeople to have joined their nation's military effort, including tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky, heavyweight champion boxer Oleksandr Usyk and three-weight champion fighter Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, both former heavyweight world champions, are also defending their homeland.

When asked if he has been treated differently because of his sporting success, Horuna said: "I consider myself just another man on the barricades.

"I do the same that other people do. We stay together and we resist. We help each other, we are so united and stronger than ever before.

"And I don't see anything heroic in my decision to join the army, because everyone here is doing the same."

Two months before his achievement in Tokyo, Horuna became the European champion in his category by defeating Azerbaijan's five-time world champion Rafael Aghayev, and he has no doubt that he will return to his karate training in the near future.

"I guess in 10 days, maybe two weeks we will win this war and my theory is life will get back to normal," he said.

"And I will be able to visit my gym, my dojo and continue my regular training. And I will start the preparation for the next tournament or championship.

"We will see - I hope and believe it will finish soon because Russian army is running out of resources."