From 29 to 31 May, Bukovel hosted the B.E.S.T. sports festival. Over three days, more than 2000 athletes competed across four venues, making Bukovel Elite Sports Trophy one of the most ambitious and unprecedented sporting events ever held in Ukraine and Europe.
The festival opened with veteran competitions on the main arena, culminating in evening finals across both team and individual disciplines. More than 250 Ukrainian defenders competed alongside veterans from the United States, Estonia and Ireland. The American team was the largest international delegation, with 10 military veterans taking part. The international adaptive sports competitions saw numerous Ukrainian and European records set. At the same time, other festival venues hosted competitions in powerlifting, arm wrestling, fitness bikini, medieval buhurt combat and firefighter sport.
On 30 May, the main stage welcomed the finals of these disciplines, while the day's centrepiece was the largest international strongman tournament held since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Elite strongmen from the United Kingdom, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Georgia and the United States travelled to Bukovel at the invitation of the Federation of Strongman of Ukraine. Ukraine was represented by Oleksii Biriukov and Oleksandr Kocherhin.
One of the most inspiring moments of the festival was the return of Oleksandr Kocherhin. A serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale invasion, he was only able to participate because his leave coincided with the competition dates. Previously a two-time world strongman champion and four-time holder of the title "Ukraine's Strongest Man", most recently in 2021, Kocherhin returned for the first time since February 2022. He won three of the six events and secured overall victory, delivering one of the most memorable stories of the entire festival.
The closing chapter of B.E.S.T. featured competitions among active military personnel – the Individual Military Championship of Ukraine and team contests between AFU brigades competing for the tournament's three main prizes: Locker vehicles. These mobile repair workshops, designed for servicing and repairing equipment in field conditions, were donated by the Your Step Charitable Foundation and Bukovel. After a demanding series of events, the winning teams were the National Academy of Land Forces (Lviv), the State Emergency Service (Mykolaiv) and the Joint Assault Brigade "Liut" (Kyiv). Teams finishing from fourth to sixth place also received valuable prizes – watches from the Ukrainian brand KLEYNOD.