Russia's war in Ukraine kills 456 athletes and coaches

Acting Minister of Youth and Sports Matviy Bidnyi said this in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

According to the acting minister, this data is only about those athletes who were involved in the national teams of Ukraine. 

In addition, more than 500 sports infrastructure facilities and more than 100 youth infrastructure facilities have been destroyed in Ukraine. 

"The elite of Ukrainian sport is now defending Ukrainian independence and our future with arms in hand. Unfortunately, the losses are very serious, but we must not stop, we must fight each on our own front. Our heroes are fighting on the frontline today, and Ukrainian sports heroes are competing in international competitions, winning and telling the whole world about what is happening, consolidating international support for Ukraine, and they are our best ambassadors in this matter," said Bidnyi.

The minister added that in Brussels, where he was on an official visit and addressed his European counterparts in the EU Council on 13 and 14 May, there were many speeches in support of Ukraine. However, he said, he still feels that many people do not understand the Ukrainian reality, when people wake up in the morning to explosions from rocket attacks, air raid sirens, what it is like to interrupt training three times to run for cover, and in some areas, such as Kharkiv, there is no point in interrupting training because you simply do not have time to run for cover. 

"So these are actually shocking facts, and it is very important that everyone understands this. When I was talking to my German colleague during my last visit to Germany, he spoke with enthusiasm about his expectations for Euro 2024. And I shared with him my memories of Euro 2012: we were waiting, preparing, dreaming about our future in the same way when we were preparing for Euro 2012. And no one could have imagined in a nightmare that in 10 years we would be burying our children, hiding from shelling, waking up to rocket attacks, we would not be able to think about sports, about the ordinary things that inspire us, but would be thinking about our survival. But even in these conditions, we must be strong, fight and rebuild our Ukraine," said Bidnyi.

• On May 6, it became known that European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Peleshenko was killed in the war with Russia.