Vitalii Sapylo, a 21-year-old youth-team player with second division Karpaty Lviv, lost his life during a battle near Kiev after joining the army as a tank commander.
Vitalii Sapylo, 21, and Dmytro Martynenko, 25, have become the first sportsmen reported to be killed in the ongoing Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The international football players association, FIFPRO, announced this on Tuesday afternoon, saying, “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."
Vitalii Sapylo, a 21-year-old youth-team player with second division Karpaty Lviv, lost his life during a battle near Kiev after joining the army as a tank commander.
Dmytro Martynenko, 25, an amateur player with regional club FC Gostomel, died alongside his mother when their apartment block close to the Ukranian capital was bombed by Russian forces.
Karpaty Lviv described Sapylo as a "hero" after announcing that he had been killed in action on the battlefield
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Ukrainian heavyweight boxing icon, Vitali Klitschko, also issued a message of defiance to Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
According to Klitschko, who is currently on the war front, he is “ready to die” to protect his country.
The one-sided war between Russia and Ukraine began last Thursday when President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to launch a military invasion of their neighbours.
As at this minute, a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian troops and tanks has reached the outskirts of Kyiv.
Klitschko, who is the Mayor of Kyiv, said “the enemy is on the outskirts of the capital,” but added that the Ukrainian military are “preparing to defend Kyiv.”
“We were in the USSR, we don’t want to go back to the Russian empire,” Klitschko said when asked to deliver a message to President Putin.
“I am very proud to see how patriotic people are. We’re not interested in how strong the Russian army is, we’re ready to fight. And we’re ready to die for our home country and for our families, because it’s our home, it’s our future and somebody wants to come to our home and steal our future from us.”