Ukraine has revealed that 133 athletes and coaches in the country have died during six months of war in the country.
The Ukraine Ministry of Youth and Sports announced this on Tuesday, banning the raising of flags and playing the country’s national anthems at sports events.
“The flag will no longer be raised and the anthem will no longer be played in honor of the sports victories of the deceased athletes,” Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Gutzait said.
He said that Russia invaded his country and killed these sports men and women, adding that “133 athletes and coaches have died on the battlefield and from enemy shelling.”
Some of these sportspersons died while defending their nation’s sovereignty in war-fronts, while some were killed in their homes by shelling.
A 36-year-old Olympic shooter, Ivan Bidnyak was one of those who died while fighting in the Kherson region.
Also eleven-year-old gymnast, Kateryna Diachenko was reportedly killed when a shell hit her house in Mariupol on March 10, along with her father, mother and brother.
