Two Ukrainian soccer players and a biathlete die in the war
One of the victims: Dmytro Martynenko played for FC Gostomel
What: Fifpro
The war between Russia and Ukraine has now reached the sport. Soccer professionals Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko and biathlete Yevhen Malyshev are killed in fighting in Kyiv.
BTwo professional soccer players were killed in skirmishes in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Young goalkeeper Vitalii Sapylo of third division club Karpaty Lviv and Dmytro Martynenko, who last played for FC Gostomel in the second division, have died, according to players’ union Fifpro.
“Our thoughts are with the families, friends and teammates of young Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo, 21, and Dmytro Martynenko, 25, football’s first reported casualties in this war,” Fifpro said Tuesday afternoon. “May they both rest in peace.”
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Sapylo is reported to have died as a tank commander defending the Ukrainian capital, while Martynenko and his mother died in a Russian bombing raid on their own home on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“He was such a happy boy”
Sapylo’s father Roman (44) explained his son’s death in an interview with BILD: “He was such a happy, fun-loving boy. It was an airstrike by that damn Putin. He took my child from me.” Vitali was killed on February 25 defending Kiev. “He really wanted to fight,” said his father, “first one tank broke, then the second. But under no circumstances did he want to leave the front. He asked for a third. This tank put him to sleep forever.” His club Karpaty Lviv promised the fallen footballer “eternal memory as our hero”.
Russia has been at war with the neighboring country since last Thursday and is now increasingly targeting large cities. Thousands of Ukrainians, including many athletes, are now taking up arms to defend their homeland. In addition to the two footballers, a biathlete was also killed in the fighting: Yevhen Malyshev was killed in military service, the Ukrainian Biathlon Association announced in Kyiv. “Heroes don’t die,” he wrote on Twitter.
“It’s beyond the human line”
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy once again emphasized: “Such a rocket attack shows that for many people in Russia, our Kyiv is alien. They don’t know anything about our history, but they have an order.”
