Jewish soccer player bound for Israel reportedly among dead in Kyiv shelling
A Ukrainian Jewish soccer player who planned to take his talents to Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Louis Keene March 3, 2022
A Ukrainian Jewish soccer player who planned to take his talents to Israel was killed in Kyiv on Tuesday when his home was hit by Russian shelling, according to a players’ union with about 65,000 members around the world.
Dmytro Martynenko, 25, played midfield and striker for FC Hostomel, a team in Ukrainian’s amateur league located in a northwest suburb of Kyiv, and was — according to Times of Israel — the team’s leading goalscorer. His mother was also killed in the attack and his sister was badly injured, according to local news reports picked up by Israeli media.
“Our thoughts are with the families, friends and teammates of young Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko, football’s first reported losses in this war. May they both rest in peace,” the International Federation of Professional Footballers, known as FIFPRO, tweeted.
Our thoughts are with the families, friends, and teammates of young Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo (21) and Dmytro Martynenko (25), football’s first reported losses in this war.
May they both rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/f6l9oHHRMr
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) March 1, 2022
His Israeli agent, Yoav Elimelech, was quoted in the Israeli publication Ynet saying that Martynenko was in contract negotiations to join a team in Israel’s top amateur league, Liga Aleph.
A number of Ukrainian athletes have volunteered to defend the country against the Russian invasion, which entered its eighth day Thursday. The players’ union general secretary, Jonas Baer-Hoffman said on BBC Radio 5 that hundreds of Ukrainian soccer players are currently in the country but that he did not know how many were involved in combat.
The deaths of the two players, Baer-Hoffman said, showed “how football and sports in general is an afterthought, because they’re just individuals who unfortunately got caught up in this terrible war.”
According to Ukrainian officials, 2,000 people had been killed in the war as of Wednesday.
Elimelech, who represents several Jewish players who emigrated from Eastern European countries to play in Israel, said he had been in contact with Martynenko for about two years, and spoke to him as recently as a few days ago.
“I was impressed by him. He seemed like a very educated, intelligent and quiet person,” Elimelech told Ynet.
Another Ukrainian soccer player, Vitalii Sapylo, 21, was also killed in combat earlier this week, according to the players’ union.
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