Russia-Ukraine War: Football mourns first casualties, giant-killing FC Sheriff manager swaps clipboard for bazooka
A youth-team coach at multiple Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk has also died defending his country’s sovereignty, the club has confirmed.
Ukraine-Russia War: Football suffered its first casualties during the ongoing Russian military intervention in Ukraine with two Ukrainian professionals dying on the battlefield.
The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO), the global footballers’ association, has confirmed the deaths of 21-year-old Vitalii Sapylo and 25-year-old Dmytro Martynenko.
Fighting in Ukraine entered the eighth day on Friday following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a special operation in the country.
FIFPRO said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with the families, friends and team-mates of young Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko, football’s first reported losses in this war. May they both rest in peace.”
Goalkeeper Sapylo, part of third-division Karpaty Lviv’s youth team, joined the Ukrainian army as a tank commander and is reported to have died defending Kyiv last Friday. His club labelled him a ‘hero’ after announcing his death in battle.
Martynenko, who last turned out for second-division FC Gostomel, died alongside his mother following a Russian bomb attack on his home in a Kyiv apartment block.
A youth-team coach at multiple Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk has also died defending his country’s sovereignty, the club has confirmed. Shakhtar CEO Serhyi Palkin announced on Thursday evening that the coach was killed after being hit by a Russian bullet fragment.
One of Ukraine’s most successful clubs, Shakhtar have been rendered homeless since 2014 after separatist groups captured parts of the Donbass region, where the team is based. Unable to play home fixtures at the Donbass Arena since the beginning of the conflict, Shakhtar currently call Kyiv home, having spent time playing in Lviv near the border with Poland.
Several footballers, past and present, and coaches have taken up arms to supplement the Ukrainian resistance against Russia.
Dnipro, another top-tier club in Ukraine, has organised a volunteer fighting unit to fight the Russians. Club president Yuri Bereza said he had created a volunteer battalion to protect Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region against the invasion.
FC Sheriff Tiraspol manager Yuriy Vernydub, who led his club to a stunning 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu barely five months ago, has also joined the Ukrainian territorial army. Born in the northern region of Ukraine, the manager bid goodbye to his players in Moldova to join the vanguard.
Vasyl Kravets, who plays for Spanish club Sporting Gijon, said he was ready to forsake his football career to defend his country. In an interview to Marca, he said the Russian army was killing civilians and blamed the war on Putin.
He said Ukrainians wanted to live in peace, but he also wanted to go to war to help his people.
Goalkeeper Svyatik Artemenko, a Canadian of Ukrainian origin, waited hours to enlist with the country’s armed forces a day after Russia’s army marched into the country.
The war in Ukraine has thrown up many tales of heroism in the face of grave danger and footballers and athletes, never to shy away from a fight, have jumped head-on into perhaps their most important battle.
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