Friends from the neighbouring countries tell how the sport has helped their families ease the trauma of being forced into exile
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On the night before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Alimov Rustam was in Odesa, across the border from his home country of Moldova, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. When his wife awoke to the sound of distant explosions, Rustam tried to reassure her that everything was fine. He soon realised it wasn’t.
The next day, the couple left for Moldova to find a line of cars already queueing at the border when they approached.
