Tragedy in Ukrainian sports: A promising 11-year-old gymnast died after a missile attack in Mariupol

In the last few hours, a news story shook the sport in Ukraine amid the war against the invasion of Russia. The 11-year-old gymnast Katya Dyachenko died after a missile attack in the city of Mariupol.

This was confirmed by Anna Purtova, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, through her social networks. “This is our gymnast Katya Dyachenko. She's 11 years old. She died under the rubble of her home in Mariupol when a Russian shell struck her during the day. She could have had a bright future ahead of her as a young champion of Ukraine. But in a second she just left. Close the sky... please,” he wrote the policy and issued a request to NATO in the last part of his speech.

For her part, the one who also referred to Dyachenko's death was her coach, who left a dramatic phrase about the death of her student. “She had to conquer the world, but she died buried in rubble. I had to conquer the stage and give smiles to the world. What are the children to blame for?” , explained Anastasia Meshchanenkov.

Based on data submitted by the United Nations, it was established that children are one of the groups most affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine, which began a month ago with the invasion of troops led by Vladimir Putin.

More than 4.3 million boys and girls have reportedly been displaced, with almost two million being those who traveled to neighbouring countries seeking asylum and 2.5 million who mobilized within the country itself to areas that have not yet been targeted by the Russian military.

“The war has caused one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. Data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights assured that there is a record of 78 children killed and 105 injured. However, the organization clarified that these data are only from the UN, so their amount could be much higher.

In the last few hours, President of France Emmanuel Macron announced that his country, along with Turkey and Greece, will carry out a “humanitarian operation” to evacuate civilians from Mariupol.

“We are going to launch a humanitarian operation with Turkey and Greece to evacuate everyone who wants to leave Mariupol,” Macron said at the end of a European summit in Brussels. He also explained that he would discuss the issue with Putin “within 48 to 72 hours.” According to data, of the 400,000 inhabitants that the city had before the invasion of the Russians, there are now only 150,000 left.

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