Russia Killed These Ukrainian Athletes

“Our victories are to draw attention to Ukraine,” says hurdler Anna Ryzhykova, whose coach, Valentyn Vozniuk, died last year in a Russian missile strike that killed 46 people. Ryzhykova will compete in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has taken the lives of Ukrainian coaches and young athletic talent. This year Ukraine will send its fewest competitors to the games in its history as a nation, according to the head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

As the Olympics begins, Ukraine remembers the athletes and coaches who died at the hands of Russian aggression:

1. Stepan Chubenko — 16 years old — Chubenko was a football goalkeeper for FC Kramatorsk. In July 2014 he was arrested by Russian backed forces and brutally tortured. He was ultimately shot because of his pro-Ukrainian stance. Since his death Chubenko has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

The following athletes were killed in a strike by a Russian hypersonic missile into a residential building in Dnipro on January 14 2023. Along with the four athletes, a total of 46 innocent people died in the attack.

1. Valentyn Vozniuk — 75 years old — Vozniuk was the coach of Olympic hurdler Anna Ryzhykova among others. He was also the head of one of the Specialized Childrens and Youth Sports Schools of the Olympic Reserve. Both him and his wife Iryna died as a result of the Russian strike.

2. Mykhailo Korenovskyi — 39 years old — Korenovskyi was a Ukrainian boxer, Honored Coach of Ukraine, and head coach of the Dnipro regional boxing team before his death. He was well-known in his community for his dedication to boxing and his work in training young athletes in the sport. Korenovskyi’s passing was mourned by many, and he is remembered for his contributions to Ukrainian sports and his community.

3. Anastasiia Ihnatenko — 27 years old — Ihnatenko was a ‘Master of Sport of Ukraine’ in acrobatic track jumping. She was the winner of the Ukrainian championships as well as a coach and a judge.

4. Maryna Lebid — 15 years old — Lebid was a 9th grade student who was involved in dance sports in her community.

The following athletes were killed as a result of indiscriminate Russian missile attacks.

1. Artem Pryimenko — 15 years old — Pryimenko was a promising young wrestler who had won several youth championships. He was a multi-time national champion and a champion of the All-Ukrainian Tournament. Artem was killed, along with his entire family, in a Russian missile strike on March 8, 2022.

2. Ihor Kobzystyi — 44 years old — Kobzystyi was an internationally recognized basketball player as well as a coach. He was considered a ‘Master of Sport of Ukraine’ before he was killed by a missile strike on December 29, 2023.

3. Victoriia Kotliarova — 27 years old — Kotliarova was a talented football player and a long term participant in the Ukrainian Football Championships. Both Victoriia and her mother were killed by a Russian missile strike.

Deaths in Ukraine’s Athletic Community Impacts the Olympics

According to a report by the Associated Press, Ukraine’s Olympic performance began to dip in 2014, when Russia first began encroaching on Ukraine’s territory ahead of its full-scale invasion in 2022. Before 2012 Ukraine had always finished in the top 13 of nations in the Summer Games, as far as medals won. In 2016, as a result of an ongoing war in the Donbas region instigated by Russia in 2014, Ukraine fell to its lowest Olympic performance, taking home only 11 medals. In 2021, it scored 19 medals, bringing it back to 16th place as a nation. However, only one of the medals was gold.

Deaths like those mentioned above, steal from Ukraine’s athletic community by taking the lives of both coaches and would-be Olympic athletes. The toll will be felt for many Olympics to come.

Athletes like Ryzhykova are competing not for themselves but to bring awareness to Ukraine’s fight. “You’re not doing it for yourself anymore,” she says. “Winning a medal just for yourself, being a champion, realizing your ambitions — it’s inappropriate.”