Who are Yuri Hundych and Roman Boshuslavskyi, Ukrainian soldiers at NFL honors 2023?

Two Ukrainian soldiers – Yuri Hundych and Roman Boshuslavskyi – have been invited to the 12th edition of the NFL Honors in Phoenix Arizona’s Symphony Hall on Thursday. The ceremony, hosted by singer Kelly Clarkson, will recognize the best of the 2022 season.

Yuri Hundych and Roman Boshuslavskyi have taken a break from fighting Russian soldiers on the front line. On Sunday, they will be honored at the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The two toured the World Trade Center site in Manhattan on Tuesday and then visited the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, which was rebuilt after being destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. They also went to the 9/11 memorial with former New York Governor George Pataki and Oleksii Holubov, who is also the consul general of Ukraine in New York.

Who are Yuri Hundych and Roman Boshuslavskyi?

Yuri Hundych is 41 years old and Roman Boshuslavskyi is 36. Both are American Football players and were granted permission from Ukrainian officials to attend the NFL Super Bowl week in the United States.

“It’s a big honor to represent the Ukraine army. We don’t think of this as a tourist trip,” Hundych told the New York Post. He is the head of the Ukrainian League of American Football and a junior sergeant in the UA armed forces. He was involved in combat in the Popasna area of the Luhansk region.

Hundych owns an advertising company. He played offensive tackle for the Kiev Patriots as a hobby. “While we are here, our brothers and sisters are on the front lines. Here we are showing we are the same people as the Americans, we like football … and we stand for democracy.”

“Nobody believed we can stand and we stand. The world started to believe us and helped us. With this help, we started taking back the territory,” he said. “We continue to make small steps towards victory.”

Boshuslavskyi is a father of three children. He lost his brother in the war. The soldier is a junior sergeant and former ULAF player who worked as a lawyer.