Sports of Ukraine, other victims of war destruction

A spate of deaths on the Ukrainian front in the past week brings the death toll of athletes to 287 since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, while around 400 stadiums and other sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed in the war.

Ukrainian karate championship silver medalist Mykola Yaremchuk, 22, was killed in a fight near Bakhmut, the country’s sports ministry said on Saturday. He joined the army as a volunteer after his older brother enlisted.

At the beginning of last week, the relevant federations reported the death of Oleksandr Dykyi (42), a multiple Ukrainian rowing medalist and participant in international competitions, and Ruslan Piskovyi (21), a finalist of the world championship in kick-boxing.

Their names join the long list of top athletes and coaches killed in the Russian invasion. On Tuesday, the deputy minister of youth and sports, Andriy Chesnokov, raised the death toll to 287, in a public intervention about the exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus from the Olympics.

“Many Ukrainian athletes signed up as volunteers,” Illia Shevliak, president of the Ukrainian Sports Committee, explained to Efe.

The initiative collects their stories so that they are not forgotten. The initiative of the Committee “Angels of Sport” (“Yangoly Sportu” in Ukrainian) collected the stories of more than 200 dead athletes in order to preserve their memory and collect evidence of Russian actions in Ukraine.

His monument, dedicated to the murdered athletes, is now on display in Kyiv, and the shoes worn by some of them are displayed in front of photos of the victims.

Some of the athletes, as well as their families, were killed in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. The youngest is Kateryna Diachenko, an 11-year-old rhythmic gymnast.

He died last spring in Mariupol, together with his father. A Russian bomb hit his house. His brother and mother were also killed when a second bomb hit the hospital where they were being treated.

“She was destined to conquer the stage and make the world laugh. What are the children to blame?”, wrote her trainer in the “Sports Angels” project.

High jumper Kateryna Tabashyk’s mother was killed in a rocket attack in Kharkiv last August.

Every day feels like August 18, Tabashnyk told Ukrainian television, explaining that he was unable to train for a month and a half after the tragedy. In March, he dedicated the newly won bronze medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships to his mother.

Shevliak hopes to present the exhibition and the stories of athletes killed abroad: “The world needs to know the cost of the Russian invasion to Ukrainian society,” he says.

there are no facilities

It also reminds of the very difficult situation that Ukrainian athletes are going through. According to the “Sports Map” created by the Committee, more than 400 stadiums, training grounds and other important sports facilities were damaged or completely destroyed.

Most of them were located in Donbass, in the east, and in cities such as Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, which were heavily bombed by Russia.

Even in such circumstances, with many athletes who can only train abroad or fight on the front lines, Ukraine has achieved good results on the international stage, Shevliak said.

An additional blow to Ukrainian athletes was the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete internationally with the approval of international sports federations.

“The IOC says it cares about the rights of Russian and Belarusian athletes. But what about the rights of Ukrainians? How can they share the same space with representatives of a regime that continues to commit crimes and kill Ukrainians?” Shevliak stressed for Efe.

Replacing the Russian or Belarusian flag with a “neutral” one would not change the fact that they will continue to represent those countries, says Ukraine’s sports director.

“Most Russian athletes belong to the military structures, which are directly responsible for the murders and destruction in Ukraine,” continues Shevliak, for whom sports have always been a tool of influence for countries like Russia, eager to whitewash your image.