As long as there is war, casualties are inevitable, and families are bound to be torn apart. For ordinary people, peace is even more precious.
The war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for years, and the number of casualties on both sides continues to rise.
Due to differences in each country's military service system and mobilization situation, there is a significant gap in the number of combatants on both sides.
However, it can be confirmed that many active or retired athletes from both sides have participated in the war.
In February 2023, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that six Ukrainian professional athletes were consecutively sacrificed on the battlefield, including football player Oleksandr Sukhenko, orienteering athlete Oleh Rybak, and water polo national team captain Yevhen Obergensky, among others. Since the outbreak of the war, more than 230 athletes and coaches have been sacrificed.
On the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the UK government information website GOV reported that Ukraine has already lost 487 professional athletes, and this number is still rising!
Despite this, Ukraine sent 140 athletes to participate in the Paris Olympics and won 12 medals, including three gold medals.
Many athletes participate in competitions while undergoing combat readiness training, and when necessary, they directly join the battle.
In September, Nina Pashkevych, a well-known Ukrainian weightlifter, was tragically killed. She was a former member of the Ukrainian national team and is 47 years old this year.
After the outbreak of the war, she served as a field medical worker on the front line. As an athlete, she had strong physical fitness and stable upper body strength. On the front line, she transformed into a sniper. Unfortunately, she was killed while carrying out sniper duties in the Donetsk region.
In December, Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina released footage of her training in the battlefield and claimed that she was ready to join the defense at any time.
Elina is 30 years old this year and is a well-known star in the tennis world, ranked 23rd in singles and 108th in doubles. Before participating in the war, her highest career ranking was third in the world! She has won 17 WTA tour singles titles.
On the Russian side, athletes continue to join the fighting, but relatively fewer. Just before New Year's Eve, a football star from Russia was reported to have been sacrificed on the battlefield.
Aleksei Bugayev (Aleksei Bugayev), a footballer who once represented Russia at the 2004 European Championship, died in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Confirmed by TASS, the largest news agency in Russia, and Ivan Bugayev, Bugayev's father, the news of Bugayev's death is true, just before New Year's Eve.
According to RIA Novosti, due to fierce fighting, Bugayev's remains could not be returned for burial.
The 43-year-old Bugayev was a defender who played two games for the Russian national football team at the 2004 European Championship and previously played for famous Russian clubs such as Lokomotiv Moscow and Krasnodar.
He ended his professional football career at the age of 29 in 2010, but was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison by a Russian court in September this year for smuggling. It is understood that he volunteered to join the army to participate in the Russo-Ukrainian War during his imprisonment and was killed in action on December 29.
This article is originally edited by Yitu Sports
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