Vitaly Merinov died in the war in Ukraine: he was kick-boxing world champion

He’s been through life sul ring, with the yellow and blue colors of his country, and died in the trenches to defend them. The four times world champion of kick-boxingthe Ukrainian Vitaly Merinov, died in the night between 31 March and 1 April from wounds sustained on the war front. It was to break the news Ruslan Martsinkiv, mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, his hometown. “An irreparable loss for the community,” he recalled on social media. “Vitaly Merinov went to war on the first day of the invasion. During one of the fights, he was shot in the leg. He recovered and returned to the front, defending Ukraine until his dying breath. He leaves behind his wife and two-year-old daughter,” he wrote on Facebook.

In the aftermath of the Russian invasion, many Ukrainian sportsmen and women are voluntarily enlist to defend your country. Since then the war has so far caused the deaths of 262 athletes and the destruction of 363 sports facilitiesas stated by the Minister for Sport, Vadym Hutsait, demanding that no Russian athletes be allowed to participate in the Olympics or other sporting competitions. “They all support this war and attend events organized in support of it,” he said. Only this year were the figure skater killed Dmytro Sharpardied in combat near Bakhmut, e Volodymyr Androshchuk, 22-year-old decathlon champion and future Olympic hopeful. In March last year, an 11-year-old gymnast lost her life, Kateryna Dyachenkoburied in the collapse of her house in Mariupol following a Russian bombing.