A group of midlife cheerleaders in Ukraine refuses to let conflict defeat them

KHARKIV, Ukraine — In a mirrored basement studio on this front-line metropolis, seven ladies are practising leaping splits.

They’re of their 50s and 60s — some have grandchildren. They put on matching Ukraine T-shirts and shake silvery pompoms to the beat of “She’s A Girl” by Tom Jones.

That is Dawn, a aggressive cheerleading squad. They’ve embraced this feel-good American sport as a method to deal with excessive stress and nervousness throughout 4 years of Russia’s all-out conflict on Ukraine.

“We train no matter what,” says Iryna Nesterenko, the squad’s captain. “When it’s dark, and we’re walking through the street while everything is burning. When there’s no light. I tell my girls: ‘We are the light.'”

Nesterenko, the squad’s captain, explains why they selected Dawn as their title.

“We used to be fearful of the sunrise,” she says. “The war began at dawn. We were often bombed at dawn. But I did not want us to be afraid. I wanted us to find a way to rejoice.”

Since Ukraine grew to become a contemporary unbiased state in 1991, after the autumn of the Soviet Union, it has embraced American tradition. Cheerleading started its rise 20 years in the past and has surged in recognition because the full-scale conflict, says Andriy Bolyak, president of the Cheerleading and Cheer Sport Federation of Ukraine.

He says many squads fled the nation after the 2022 Russian invasion.

“As of today, though, we are back to prewar numbers. That’s because we have a lot of new teams,” he says.

Bolyak attributes the rise in cheerleading’s recognition to Ukrainians searching for emotional respite from wartime stress and terror. Solely 4% of Ukrainians describe their psychological well being pretty much as good, in line with a January survey by Helsi, the biggest medical info system in Ukraine.

Bolyak says that although youngsters make up many of the groups, a number of new ones are composed of ladies over 50, together with Good Girls, a group profiled in a 2024 documentary. Like Dawn, Good Girls additionally hail from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, the place Bolyak says among the first nationwide cheerleading competitions had been held.

Town is simply 20 miles from the Russian border.

“We were bombed every night”

Nesterenko has lived in Kharkiv practically all her life. She’s 63, a lifelong athlete who was a aggressive gymnast.

She meets NPR at a Kharkiv tea home, together with two different Dawn cheerleaders and the group choreographer.

“How can you distract yourself during a war?” Nesterenko asks. “How about exercising with pompoms?”

She sounds lighthearted however the reality is extra painful. The conflict has traumatized each member of the group.

Nesterenko remembers the terrifying first days of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Her dwelling was bombed.

“We hid in the basement for five days,” she says. “Then our food ran out, our cat food ran out, everything ran out.”

She and her husband grabbed their cats and drove west. Once they returned in 2023, after Ukrainian troops drove Russian forces out of the Kharkiv area, town was now not beneath imminent menace of occupation. Russia, nevertheless, was nonetheless continuously attacking.

Nesterenko’s pal Inna Skryl, a chemistry trainer, instructed her the strikes got here like clockwork.

“We were bombed every night at the same time,” Skryl says. “We huddled in the hallways. That pushed me into depression.”

The 2 buddies quickly realized everybody of their circle was battling excessive stress. Nesterenko noticed no finish to it.

“You think, tomorrow the war will be over, or in a month, or soon but no no no, we are living with this war.” she says. “So we decided to stop waiting and start living.”

“We will heal you”

In 2024, Nesterenko introduced pom-poms to an aerobics class she was instructing to buddies. One thing clicked.

“We moved as one, like a united Ukraine, everything synchronized,” she says. “And suddenly cheerleading was the only choice.”

Cheerleading grew to become greater than a wartime sport to distract Nesterenko and her buddies from the conflict. The group’s first title was Finest Mates, Nesterenko says, as a result of the ladies lifted one another up, typically actually.

Halyna Plakhuta, a 63-year-old economist, had been a full-time caretaker throughout the conflict and had grown bodily fragile. She instructed Nesterenko she had a nasty arm and shaky knees and would make a awful cheerleader.

“I said, look, is there anything you can do about that?” Plakhuta says. “And she made a star out of me.”

Plakhuta says she will now leap excessive sufficient now to impress her younger granddaughter, who made good-luck amulets for the group after they competed within the European championships.

Each Monday, Plakhuta joins the opposite cheerleaders within the basement studio. They embrace a physician, an accountant and a beautician who makes the group’s costumes.

Natalia Pivovarova is a 59-year-old accountant. She cared for her bedridden mom as Russian assaults blew out their home windows.

Cheerleading, she says, has been the very best remedy.

“My friends abroad call me, saying they’re depressed,” she says. “And I say, come to Kharkiv. We will heal you.”

“Our best life”

Throughout a current rehearsal, the cheerleaders line up behind Nesterenko, who cues a medley for his or her routine. The primary track is by ABBA. The ladies smile and step ahead.

“We are living our best life,” Nesterenko declares. “We may train underground, we may huddle in shelters from bombs, but no matter what, this is going to be our best life.”

Just a few weeks later, the Dawn cheerleaders arrive within the capital, Kyiv, for a nationwide competitors.

They put on navy-blue leotards and rub glitter on their faces.

“We always compete to win,” Nesterenko says. “But really, we have already won.”

It’s kind of of a joke, since Dawn is the one group within the over-25 age group competing immediately. Nesterenko, nevertheless, is speaking a couple of symbolic victory, one which helped a gaggle of buddies in one among Ukraine’s most bombed cities to flex optimism like a muscle.

“Look around,” she says. “Listen to all that joy.”

The auditorium is stuffed with cheerleaders who’re all many years youthful, some as younger because the Dawn squad’s personal grandchildren. The cheerleaders shriek and clap loudly as the ladies of Dawn run to middle stage, able to shine.