KONSTANTIN YAKAULEU: THOUGHTS ON HOPE AND FREEDOM ON HIS BIRTHDAY

Despite the ongoing war, Konstantin Yakauleu remains in Ukraine by choice, providing support to both young Ukrainian athletes and people in need.

As a for­mer pro­fes­sion­al hand­ball play­er and coach in Belarus, Kon­stan­ti­n’s career was marked by his skill and ded­i­ca­tion to the sport. Now, as an ambas­sador for the Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion (AFF), he con­tin­ues to advo­cate for human rights and demo­c­ra­t­ic val­ues. On his 39th birth­day, we had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to speak with Kon­stan­tin about his jour­ney, his com­mit­ment to free­dom, and his hopes for the future.

Ath­letes for Free­dom: Hap­py birth­day, Kon­stan­tin! How are you cel­e­brat­ing today?

Kon­stan­tin Yakauleu: Thank you! I’m spend­ing the day at the gym, train­ing as usu­al, and doing some work. The time isn’t right for cel­e­brat­ing here in Ukraine, as the war is rag­ing. It’s a bit dif­fer­ent from what I would have imag­ined a few years ago, but I am still grate­ful for what I have.

AFF: Your jour­ney from being a pro­fes­sion­al hand­ball play­er and coach in Belarus to becom­ing a human rights advo­cate in exile is quite remark­able. Can you share a bit about that tran­si­tion?

K.Y.: It has cer­tain­ly been a chal­leng­ing jour­ney. Back in August 2020, like many Belaru­sians, I joined the peace­ful protests demand­ing free and fair elec­tions. The regime’s response was bru­tal, and like hun­dreds of oth­er ath­letes, I faced polit­i­cal per­se­cu­tion. It became impos­si­ble to stay in Belarus, so I was forced into exile. Mov­ing to Ukraine has giv­en me a place to con­tin­ue my work and my train­ing.

AFF: You train every day pro­mot­ing the slo­gan “We will play again.” Can you explain what that means to you?

K.Y.: “We will play again” is more than just a slo­gan. It’s a sym­bol of hope and resilience. It means that despite the hard­ships and the obsta­cles, we will per­se­vere and even­tu­al­ly return to a sense of nor­mal­cy. It’s about the belief that one day, we will be able to live and play freely in our own coun­try again.

AFF: As an ambas­sador for the Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion, what mes­sage do you aim to con­vey?

K.Y.: The core mes­sage is that equal­i­ty and free­dom are the utmost val­ues of human civ­i­liza­tion. No one should have con­trol over these fun­da­men­tal rights. Every indi­vid­ual deserves to live in a soci­ety where they can express them­selves freely and par­tic­i­pate in fair elec­tions with­out fear of repres­sion.

AFF: What keeps you moti­vat­ed to con­tin­ue your advo­ca­cy work despite the chal­lenges?

K.Y.: The hope for a bet­ter future for Belarus and the unwa­ver­ing belief in human rights keep me going. See­ing the strength and courage of fel­low Belaru­sians, both inside the coun­try and in exile, is incred­i­bly inspir­ing. We all share the same dream of a free and demo­c­ra­t­ic Belarus.

AFF: What are your hopes for the future, both per­son­al­ly and for Belarus?

K.Y.: Per­son­al­ly, I hope to con­tin­ue grow­ing in my role as an advo­cate for human rights and one day return to Belarus to help rebuild our sports com­mu­ni­ty and soci­ety as a whole. For Belarus, I dream of a free and demo­c­ra­t­ic nation where everyone’s rights are respect­ed, and we can live with­out fear. I believe in the pow­er of col­lec­tive action and the resilience of the human spir­it.

AFF: Thank you for shar­ing your sto­ry with us, Kon­stan­tin. Your strength and ded­i­ca­tion are tru­ly inspir­ing.

K.Y.: Thank you for hav­ing me. It’s an hon­or to share this jour­ney, and I hope it inspires oth­ers to con­tin­ue fight­ing for free­dom and equal­i­ty.

Main image: Kon­stan­tin Yakauleu at the sea. Pho­to from his per­son­al archive.