TOKYO, Aug 23, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Ukrainian badminton player Maria Ulitina
has been living in Hungary since Russia invaded her country and says focusing
on matches is "really hard when you don't have a home".

The world number 58 drove for four straight days to reach the Hungarian
border when Russian missiles started firing over her home in the eastern
Ukrainian city of Dnipro in February.

Six months later she is still living in exile and said the situation is now
taking a serious toll on her mental health.

"I don't want to complain about it but mentally it's really hard when you
don't have a home and you don't know where you will live tomorrow," the 30-
year-old told AFP at badminton's world championships in Tokyo on Tuesday.

"It's hard mentally, financially. It's difficult."

Ulitina had previously lived in Hungary so she had residence permission for
herself and her dog when she fled the war in her homeland with the bare
minimum of possessions.

She said her training conditions and standard of living were good but "it's
hard to manage" her mental state as the war drags on.

She said her family in Ukraine were safe and they speak regularly, but she
also worries that the front line of war is moving closer to them.

Ulitina has been active on the world tour this season and she made a surprise
appearance at the All England Open in March, barely a week after fleeing
Ukraine for Hungary.

"It happened just two or three days before the start and I had no visa or
anything," she said.

"It's big thanks to Badminton England that they asked the government to help
so I could go."

Ulitina said she had Russian friends in the past but she has not heard from
them since the war began.

Russian badminton players have been banned from international competition and
she said she "cannot even imagine" what it would be like to face one on the
court.

"I used to have friends there but since the war started no one even writes or
asks anything, how we are or if they are sorry about it, nothing," she said.

"This is really disappointing."