Petrovsky District is well known as one of the most heavily bombed and hardest hit districts of Donetsk, and yet thousands of civilians; men, women and children, live there and go about their lives there every day, even under the terrorist shelling of the ukrop/NATO nazis. Petrovsky District is where Sergey and Magomed teach over 100 kids and young adults the fine art of karate and self-defense. Sergey had his own karate school in the gym of the main schoolhouse in the front line village of Alexandrovka, not far from Petrovsky, but the entire schoolhouse in Alexandrovka was destroyed by shelling from Ukrainian artillery. So, Sergey joined forces with Magomed, and now his students from Alexandrovka come to the school in Petrovsky for their lessons.
Magomed opened his school in 2020, after several years of repair on a building he had bought expressly for the purpose of turning it into the only dojo in Petrovsky. Magomed is a successful business owner, and used his own money to buy and repair the school. Magomed's son, Ruslan, is currently a brown belt, and also teaches at the school. Sergey is an officer in the DPR security services, and also a renowned poet. All three are friendly, respectful, open, artistic and intellectual, but fearless and harder than a fist full of coffin nails if they have to be. All perfect examples of what we want our Petrovsky kids to grow up to be. And indeed, all our Russian kids.
When I met my good friend Jeff Monson a few days earlier, we invited him to come visit the school in Petrovsky, and he was ready to go, but his Russian security guards said Petrovsky was too dangerous. And they probably made the right decision. Petrovsky is one of the most dangerous districts of Donetsk, but it's not too dangerous for those of us who live there, and who go there every day. Jeff said he'd make sure he would be able to come to Petrovsky next time he was in town.
Along with the bone crushing techniques that Magomed and Sergey teach to kids who have lived all or most of their lives in war and under shelling, the most important lesson is courage, and these kids have a natural affinity for it. I'm very proud to be able to say that I'm from Petrovsky, but I was never prouder of it than when visiting the teachers and students there.