Died from Injuries Sustained in War... Left Behind Wife and Daughter
News has emerged that a kickboxing world champion from Ukraine died from injuries sustained while fighting Russian forces on the front lines.
CNN and other broadcasters reported that Ruslan Martsinkiv, mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, announced on the 1st (local time) that Vitalii Merinov (32), a former kickboxing world champion, passed away in a hospital on the 31st of last month due to wounds suffered in combat. Merinov was said to have been actively competing as an athlete before the war, having won the kickboxing world championship four times and participated in various martial arts events.
Mayor Martsinkiv said, "Vitalii Merinov went to the battlefield on the very first day of the (Russian) full-scale invasion," adding, "Vitalii sustained a gunshot fragment injury to his leg during combat but recovered and returned to the front lines, defending Ukraine until his last moment." He described Merinov's death as "an irreparable loss to the community," noting, "He left behind a wife and a two-year-old daughter. We will remember our hero forever."
Merinov also served as a member of the Ivano-Frankivsk council during his lifetime. However, the specific battle in which he was wounded and lost his life has not been disclosed.
Since Russia's invasion in February last year, many civilians previously unrelated to the military have voluntarily enlisted to defend their homeland in Ukraine. Recently, Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), revealed that 185 athletes have died in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war in February last year.
According to Western intelligence agencies, Russian forces suffered heavy casualties while attempting to forcibly break through Ukrainian defensive lines by sheer numbers on fronts such as Bakhmut, but Ukrainian forces also incurred significant losses in the process.
Meanwhile, on the 28th of last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced new criteria limiting the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes?who face international sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine?to competing only as individuals in international competitions. As a result, athletes who are active military personnel or belong to military-operated teams from Russia or Belarus are expected to be effectively barred from participating in international events such as the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
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