An MMA champion from Ukraine says his city has gone from a place of happiness to one that's 'on fire, destroyed'

• Yaroslav Amosov returned to the front lines in Ukraine after securing his family's safety.
• The Ukraine athlete told CNN that it was long before the grim reality of war presented itself.

More than half of the critical infrastructure in Yaroslav Amosov's hometown of Irpin has been destroyed due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to CNN, the undefeated Bellator MMA champion described the horrors of war.

He spoke about how a place he'd always associated with happiness has instead been laid to waste, as it's "on fire, destroyed," he said.

He described seeing a soldier running with a small child in his arms. The soldier had blood on him, Amosov claimed, yet it wasn't from the child or from him. The blood belonged to the toddler's father.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and, in the months since, more than 12 million people have been displaced as multiple cities in that country have been shelled. More than 3,000 civilians have been killed there, according to the UN.

"It's hard to look at your city that was once full of happiness, life," Amosov told CNN Sport. "It was always very beautiful here, people were happy, they were happy with their life and took pleasure in it.

"Then simply to look at the city now, which is on fire, which is getting destroyed and it becomes horrible to look at.

"You couldn't really go driving around the city because the roads were covered with trees, in some places, there were parts of houses. Destruction."

Amosov joined the country's territorial defense after ensuring the safety of his wife and six-month-old son by taking them to the outskirts of Ukraine, CNN reported.

When he returned to the front lines, it was not long before he saw first-hand the stark realities of battle.

"In the first days, it was very hard to look at, to get used to all these events, to look at how people are running from their houses," Amosov said.

"Not everyone could leave, some people had parents who they couldn't leave behind, who were very elderly and can't move properly.

"People are running ... taking their children, taking their parents in their arms and running, crying, they don't know what to do. People are running with their pets.

"I saw this situation when a soldier was running holding a child in his arms," Amosov said. "The child's things were all covered in blood, but the blood was not his, it was his father's. The mother was running behind.

"I don't know in the end what happened to the child's father, but it's very hard to watch.

"The child was probably aged two or three, but he didn't even understand what was happening, I didn't hear him crying, he was just probably in some unreal shock."

Amosov has been in the news before as he recovered his Bellator MMA championship belt from a war-torn town.

Amosov rescued his Bellator MMA championship belt

A Bellator MMA source with knowledge of the situation told Insider the fighter's mother hid the Bellator title in the childhood home before it got shelled during the country's ongoing fight against Russian invaders.

In a video that Amosov posted to Instagram, the 28-year-old can be seen climbing a ladder in what appeared to be the basement of a house in Irpin, which had been under siege.

He's dressed in military gear, wearing a protective helmet, and inside a plastic bag is the Bellator strap intact — the same belt he won in 2021 for beating Douglas Lima by decision at Bellator 260.

It is unclear when Amosov might return to combat sports.