Ukrainian Olympic champion and MP Zhan Beleniuk said his Rwandan roots remained an important part of his identity, pointing to family ties that kept him connected to the country despite growing up in Ukraine.
Speaking to The New Times’ The Context Podcast during his latest visit to Rwanda, Beleniuk said the trip carried personal meaning beyond his responsibilities in Ukraine’s Parliament.
“For me, it’s a big special visit, not just because I’m a Ukrainian MP, because it’s my second motherland,” he said.
Beleniuk was born to a Ukrainian mother and a Rwandan father who studied in Kyiv and worked as a pilot. He was raised mainly by his mother and grandmother in Ukraine.
Before entering politics, Beleniuk built an international career in Greco-Roman wrestling. He won silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro before taking gold at the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021. He retired from competitive wrestling after the Paris 2024 Games.
Beleniuk first travelled to Rwanda in 2017 following his Olympic silver medal. He said he had long wanted to learn more about the Rwandan side of his family and meet relatives living in the country.
“I was very interested in my roots and I wanted to recognise who we are, because I knew just my mom and my grandma there in Ukraine.
But I recognised that I have a family [in Rwanda] and I have some relatives there, and I dreamt about this opportunity to recognise and to meet with them,” he said.
He said much of his extended family is in Rwanda, including several uncles and aunts as well as his grandmother.
“I have more relatives here than in Ukraine because I have a lot of uncles and aunts here. Even my grandma is still alive. She is 82 years old,” he said.
Beleniuk was elected to Ukraine’s Parliament in 2019 while still competing internationally. He now heads the Ukrainian Parliament’s friendship group with Rwanda.
He said sport could provide an area for cooperation between Rwanda and Ukraine through exchanges involving athletes, coaches and other sports professionals.
Beleniuk pointed to basketball and athletics among areas where Rwanda has potential and said Ukrainian experience could be shared through training camps and other exchanges. He acknowledged that no specific programme had yet been agreed.
“It’s still a vision,” he said.
He also identified agriculture, food security, education and culture as other areas where Rwanda and Ukraine could explore cooperation.
Beleniuk said his role in the parliamentary friendship group gives him an opportunity to connect his personal ties to Rwanda with his work in Ukraine’s Parliament.
“In this position, I can be like this bridge between our countries,” he said.
