Sergei STETSYURA: I regret signing a two-year contract with Storm

Ten days ago, on January 7, Sport.ua described in detail the situation developing in the ranks of an ambitious project called “Storm Hockey Club”. The team, which started its professional hockey journey with a victory in the 2024 Ukrainian Cup, is now at risk of ending its existence ingloriously. While Vinnytsia-registered Odessans suffered a technical defeat by missing the last match of 2025 with Krizhinka, it seems that the first two matches of the new year will be postponed due to difficult weather conditions. At the same time, the club’s sports director, Georgy Lopatukhin, registered an objection, which was a reaction to the above-mentioned material and also affected people in the team. In particular, striker Sergei Stetsyura, who was accused of almost criminal offenses.

Sergei also did not remain in debt. In this interview with Sport.ua, the hockey player told his version of the story about the Storm’s steep peak. A version that does not escape our material from ten days ago.

– Sergey, is it correct to say that what is happening now is a continuation of the events at the end of last season?

– Frankly yes. We only received half our salary after losing early to Kiev Capitals in the semi-finals of the 2025 play-offs. We were laid off and were not paid anything for the next four months of furlough. The team was expected to meet on August 1. However, this date was constantly postponed. As a result, on September 15, the owner of “Thunderstorm” Oleg Kropivnitsky informed us that the team would temporarily move to Vinnitsa. He didn’t explain why. We were told that we didn’t need to worry, that the club would rent us an apartment and that the previously agreed fees would remain the same.

However, time passed and the team could not gather. On October 1, we received 10,000 hryvnia instead of full salary. Someone took this money, but me and a group of men refused, saying that it was not serious and that we expected the full amount to be paid. As a result, we only resumed training on October 5 and played the first match of the new championship on October 9. We were placed in dormitories instead of apartments.

– I avoided this definition in my material, but Georgy Lopatukhin himself in his speech called this dwelling a barracks.

– That’s how it was. We were staying in rooms for five to ten people. I lived where ten men moved. To say that there are no conditions there is to say nothing. We lived in these conditions for two weeks. They fed us every day and it was terrible. I found out that a lunch costs 100 hryvnia. During the appeal, Mr. Lopatukhin learned with surprise that “The Storm” had a doctor. Yes, officially there is. Just like the previous two seasons. However, he does not live with the team, he only comes to the matches in Odessa. And the doctor who is always with the team has no medical training.

– So, have the conditions improved?

– Apparently we were transferred to live in a hotel. But what kind of hotel is this when it’s so cold that steam comes out of your mouth and there are “facilities on the ground”? They promised to give us an advance on October 19, and when this date came, they gave us 10,000 again. And again they promised that everything would be fine in the future and we would receive everything that was promised to us. When the month was up, it turned out that I was fined 50% of my salary. “The management is not happy with my behavior,” they said. He then said we didn’t get along that way and refused to play. Other players did not get what they expected either. $10,000 was again paid for November and December was never closed. Nikita Sidorenko and I tried to talk to Oleg Kropivnitsky, but he became hostile, saying that we were “two fathers”. They threw mud on us. According to the information we received from the management, not a single sponsor gave money.

– Did you decide at that time that you stopped collaborating with Storm?

– Yes. We have encountered different things in Ukrainian hockey, but nothing like this has ever happened in “Storm”. Sidorenko and I moved to Odessa and called Lopatukhin and said that we wanted to deliver the jersey while we were in town. “Give it to the police,” he said. In fact, since we have a contract with Storm, we do not need to send a form. There is no crime in this. But maybe there is when a club does not fulfill its obligations.

– Georgy Anatolyevich claims that he treated you and Nikita from the consequences of alcoholism.

– Nikita already answered on his behalf on Instagram (see below). I consulted a gastroenterologist because I applied antibiotics to my stomach while being treated for a cold. I don’t know which specialist treated me best, but they paid $100 for one visit and that was it. Of course I needed treatment, but there was no money for it. That’s why I got my body in order by dieting. I couldn’t afford more.

– Do you have any complaints about coach Ruslan Borisenko?

– None. He gave me a lot as a specialist. In the hockey sense. Ruslan Vitalievich could only have not followed the management’s lead and directly said that, given the terrible conditions created for us, the team would not play if this was not corrected.

– Sergei, you went to Spain at the beginning of a large-scale war and played for Puigsarda there. Do you regret returning to Ukraine at the invitation of Alexander Bobkin?

– I only regret one thing. He signed a two-year contract with the Storm last season. Management refused to make a deal for a year. I don’t know what to do now. I contacted the Ukrainian Hockey Federation, stating that the club had violated the terms of the contract, but they did not respond to my objections. There is no normal communication with storm management either. Pan Kropivnitsky avoids communication, Georgy Lopatukhin for some time completely blocked my number. By the way, I want to ask, what about the washing machine that was supposed to serve the team but that we loaded into the sports director’s car?

– Considering these facts, are you considering leaving your career?

– Not yet. But of course, as long as I’m involved with Storm, I can’t look for another club. I’m looking for a way out of this situation. Vitya Nikonov left the question blank before the start of the season. He said he wanted to leave. They told him he had a contract and no one would let him go. As a result, Vitya left, ending his career. Let’s see what we have. Oleg Kropivnitsky tells everyone that he is for hockey, for development.

– Pan Lopatukhin accuses you of training with Sidorenko in Odesshchina while your contract with Storm was still ongoing.

– We need to keep in shape somewhere and we are grateful to the Odesshchina club for welcoming us. What’s wrong with this? As far as I know, people were coming to Kiev from the NHL and training in Sokol until they returned to their clubs. Such examples are far from isolated in hockey. Pan Lopatukhin is a newcomer to hockey. Maybe he didn’t know.