Ukraine: Yuri, Nazar and Alina, rugby stories of ‘Orsi and humanity

Nazar and Alina are two Ukrainian children, aged 8 and 7, they are cousins ​​and they dance. Nazar’s mom Oksana works as an accountant and loves Italy. Some time ago she arrived in Italy, in Genoa, Sestri Ponente, as an au pair, guest of a kind family which it was impossible not to become attached to. Oksana spends four consecutive summers in Italy which becomes a friend place for her. In Kiev, one day in February 2022, with the snow comes the war with the invasion of Russia. Oksana doesn’t think about it too much: when she understands what’s going to happen she thinks about her children, she calls Italy, calls the family that had hosted her and asks for help. But not only for her children, also for others of her: she wants to take the guests of an orphanage away from that disaster, she wants to accompany them to Italy. So the doors of that house open again in early March to accommodate her, but no longer as an au pair. As Nazar’s mother, Alina’s aunt, she as the angel of the children of the Kiev orphanage. With the two cousins, even the grandmother, Oksana’s mother, who did not want to leave her city, but who in the end was convinced. In Genoa, the story spreads quickly, and when it reaches the ears of Paolo, a ‘Bear’ from the Western Provinces who is a friend of the family, the need to lend a hand takes on the most spontaneous form: “Nazar, Alina, why don’t you come to to play rugby’?”. Paolo, the Bear, is Paolo Ricchebono, former Italian Champion with the Mediolanum of the Dominguez, of the Cuttittas, of the Campese. Rugby has always been his life, like the mountains: he loves coaching kids, and so those two from Kiev don’t escape him. He literally goes to pick them up at home, because he knows that within a team, their bewilderment would be lost immediately, and friends would blossom even without speaking the same language. Especially having an ace in the hole. “I never wanted to put them in trouble, but Nazar and Alina speak Russian, and with us in the Under 17 there is a Russian boy, his name is Yuri Litvin, and not even for a second did I think he would not give them all. possible help “. So it was: afternoon of training, Paolo takes the little guests to the camp: while the introductions begin, the two are a bit confused, they understand nothing except that everyone smiles friendly. Then suddenly, that familiar sound: Russian, Russian words, Russian smile, “Hi, I’m Yuri and I’m here to help you”. Nazar’s eyes open wide and become luminous, Alina’s even more: the most unexpected surprise, and therefore the most beautiful. “Now they are inseparable, the three of them don’t care who is Russian and who is Ukrainian: Yuri is become their point of reference, he likes to feel that way, to know that he is useful, and they trust them blindly ”, Ricchebono continues. “You don’t need to embroider too much on it, it’s called humanity, and it’s exactly how it should be”. The two kids from Kiev want to go home, but even if they are small, they know that for the moment they can’t. Meanwhile, since last Monday they have started school again, in Dad: their teacher, from Kiev, has decided not to stop teaching, and in one way or another the lessons will go on through a screen, even under the bombs. , separate but close. Rugby, in the meantime, begins to become familiar: Nazar is a handsome athlete, the tallest of his Under 9s. Alina is very agile, also the tallest of the team. On Sunday they played their first Rugby Festival together with their new companions: rugby players among rugby players, children among children. Exactly how it should be.