Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk's youth coach dies during combat in war against Russia

Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday confirmed that one of its coaches has died while fighting in the ongoing war against Russia. Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Serhyi Palkin took to his official Facebook handle to announce the devastating news. He said the youth coach of the side was killed by a fragment of a Russian bullet. Shakhtar Donetsk is one of the most successful football teams in Ukraine, having won the Ukrainian Premier League 13 times. 

The Ukrainian Premier League was suspended last week after Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine. The Ukrainian government imposed martial law in the country and asked all men aged between 18 to 60 to join the fight against the invading Russian troops. Shakhtar Donetsk's youth coach was amongst those who responded to the call and joined the army reserves. He was killed on Thursday after being hit by a bullet.

Shakhtar Donetsk is a Ukrainian football club situated in Donetsk, which is a part of the Donbass region, where conflict has raged since 2014, well before Russia launched its military incursion last month. In the region, the Ukrainian army had been fighting pro-Russian insurgents.

Shakhtar were compelled to move their home arena to a different city in order to avoid getting embroiled in the conflict. Before the Ukrainian league was suspended last week, Shakhtar were on top of the points table, two points ahead of defending champions Dynamo Kyiv. 

Russia-Ukraine war

Russia launched a land, air, and sea invasion of Ukraine last Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the strike in a pre-dawn address to the nation. The Russian army started its initial offensive by attacking key Ukrainian military infrastructure across the country. The Ukrainian government was forced to declare martial law and urge people to pick up arms. Although the war in Ukraine is still ongoing, both parties have decided to engage in talks, and negotiations are currently underway.

According to the Ukrainian government's report, more than 2000 civilians have been killed so far in the conflict, while thousands remain injured. The Russians, on the other hand, have lost nearly 500 military personnel in the past seven days. 

Image: shakhtar.com