A former Ukrainian tennis star opened up about his decision to leave his family and travel to Ukraine to fight against Russian troops.

Sergiy Stakhovsky, who is originally from Ukraine, is a former tennis champion who bested Roger Federer during the 2013 Wimbledon and was once ranked #31 in the world.

Now, Stakhovsky, who has been living in Hungary together with his wife and children, made a tough decision to leave his family and go fight in Ukraine because “someone has to stop Putin.”

As the athlete insisted, sanctions alone will not stop the Russian dictator from taking over Ukraine and putting entire Europe at risk.

“The support and even the restrictions and sanctions of the Russian federation in terms of sport, culture, is great, it’s working. I’m very sure it’s working,” he said.

“But it doesn’t stop him from what he’s doing and somebody needs to put a stop to him.”

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, Stakhovsky, who was dressed in military fatigues, went on to insist that his countrymen are being punished for wanting a better life.

“I would never in my life believe that they would invade on a full scale. But that’s what Russia’s agenda is – to deliver chaos and instability in Europe,” he added.

“We are being punished because we want a better life and are reaching out to Europe.

“I am not really sure we can have a person in today’s world who has the capability of nuclear weapons. We are not sure what he is going to do next.”

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