After 4 long years, US figure skater reunites with family from war-torn Ukraine at the Olympics

After four years of separation due to war, American figure skater Vadym Kolesnik has finally reunited with family members from Ukraine at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, thanks to a successful crowdfunding effort that surpassed its initial goal.

The emotional reunion took place Saturday when Kolesnik’s relatives Snezhana Kolesnik and Irina Kobchenko arrived in northern Italy to watch him compete with ice dance partner Emilea Zingas. The timing was particularly poignant, as Russia had carried out another major attack on Ukraine that same day, involving hundreds of drones and 32 ballistic missiles.

“I’m just so, so thankful,” Kolesnik told The Associated Press after a practice session. “They wouldn’t have been here without everyone’s help.”

The 24-year-old’s family has endured immense hardship since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His hometown of Kharkiv has been repeatedly bombed, with family homes reduced to rubble. His father Igor’s appliance and lighting business was destroyed, while his brother, also named Igor, enlisted in the Ukrainian army to defend their homeland.

The GoFundMe campaign, created in January shortly after Kolesnik and Zingas qualified for the Olympics, quickly exceeded its $25,000 target. Kolesnik plans to use remaining funds to support his training and coaching expenses after the Games.

“We never expected that much,” Zingas said of the outpouring of support.

Kolesnik’s journey to representing the United States began in 2016 when he arrived for a tryout with renowned coach Igor Shpilband. The path wasn’t smooth—after a brief return to Ukraine, he was initially denied re-entry to the U.S. Eventually securing a long-term visa, Kolesnik trained largely alone until his mother, Svitlana, joined him about three years ago.

His father stayed behind in Ukraine to care for Kolesnik’s grandmother, while his older brother went to war following the Russian invasion.

Given his family’s experiences, Kolesnik has strong opinions about Russian athletes competing at the Milan Cortina Games. Despite several Russian competitors being cleared to participate as neutral athletes after vetting for military connections, including figure skaters Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik, Kolesnik remains opposed to their presence.

“To me, they’re a terrorist country,” Kolesnik said bluntly. “They’re killing Ukrainians every day. Until the war is over, they have no place.”

Kolesnik, who obtained U.S. citizenship last summer, has learned to compartmentalize the trauma of war while pursuing his athletic career. When not training with Zingas, he works at the Novi Ice Arena near Detroit.

“When the war just started, it was definitely affecting my life drastically, especially my skating life,” he explained. “I was just trying to pour all the feelings, all the emotions I had into skating, and this is not a good way of training. I wanted it so bad, to be successful.”

Through sports psychology, he’s developed techniques to maintain focus despite the constant worry about his homeland. “I have to go out there, tell the story, focus on my job, and whatever happens outside of skating is outside of it,” he said.

Zingas emphasized the emotional burden her partner carries daily. “You have to remember this war is really close to his heart,” she said. “Every day he gets sent videos and messages about friends dying or getting injured. It’s not an easy thing. For the last four years, every day, he’s had some big weight put on him.”

While two family members made the journey from Ukraine to watch Kolesnik compete, his mother made the difficult decision to remain in Michigan. Though she could have traveled to Europe, legal advisors warned of potential complications returning to the United States despite having proper documentation.

“Our lawyer advised us that it was not a good idea,” Zingas explained. “She has a visa and all the right paperwork, but they’ve heard stories about people having all the right paperwork and something happens, and they get denied entry anyway.”

Kolesnik’s mother has a visa valid until 2027, but he hopes to secure a green card to ensure she can stay indefinitely.

The skater credits his father with supporting his figure skating dreams from the beginning. “They’re so proud of me, especially my dad,” Kolesnik said. “My mom wasn’t so supportive of my figure skating dream. My dad was always behind it. He sent me to the U.S. to follow my dreams. My mom wanted me to choose a different path, something more safe, but my dad knew when I was growing up that I would rather go skating than do anything else.”

Now, as Kolesnik prepares for the rhythm dance competition Monday night, he’ll perform on the Olympic stage with the added emotion of having family in the audience—a reunion that seemed impossible just months ago amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.