Appeals to join the resistance, lists of medical supplies, tips for spotting and trapping Russian infiltrators… and early death notices.
On the seventh day of war in Ukraine, it is impossible to count the number of lives taken and destinies torn apart by the Russian bombardments.
Among the endless stream of images and information published on social networks, the faces of three Ukrainian amateur sportsmen still caught the eye.
Young footballers Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko and biathlete Yevhen Malyshev were not yet adults.
Their names, however, already fill the list of victims of the invasion ordered last Thursday by Vladimir Putin.
Vitalii Sapylo, 21, goalkeeper and tank commander
This is one of the very first victims of this war.
On Friday evening, the Russian occupiers attempted to gain a foothold in the Ukrainian capital, with fierce fighting throughout the night.
Born in the year 2000, Vitalii then defended his country as a tank commander and perished in battle.
“We sympathize with our loved ones, support them in their plight, bow our heads,” said the community of Sokilnytsia, a village near Lviv, where he is from.
He guarded the cages of a youth team of the local club FC Karpaty (3rd Division).
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
“He was such a happy and fun boy.
It was an airstrike by that damn Putin.
He took my child from me, his father Roman, 44, told German newspaper Bild.
He really wanted to fight.
A first tank broke down, then the second.
But in no case did he want to leave the front.
He asked for a third tank.
This tank brought him eternal sleep.
»
Dmytro Martynenko, 25, footballer, victim of a bombardment
This young man was not a star of the "Zbirna", the national team.
He also did not play in the top flight of Ukrainian football.
Dmytro was simply brightening up the regional championship and the pitches around Kiev.
Best player of his team, FC Gostomel, he was also top scorer in the League.
Originally from Louhansk, in the Donbass, he was the victim of a Russian bombardment on the night of Sunday to Monday.
Загинув діма Мартиненко і його мама .... В будинок влучила Російська бомба ... Вихованець луганського футболу, кращий ...
Posted by Києво-Святошинський футбол on Monday, February 28, 2022
Six people, including his mother, lost their lives in this strike targeting a building.
His father survived, along with his 7-year-old sister, in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital.
Doctors managed to treat his head injuries, it was learned on Wednesday on the Facebook page of the Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi football district.
Yevhen Malyshev, 19, biathlete
Two years ago, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, he chose to leave the blue and yellow ranks of the junior Olympic biathlon team to do his military service.
He was to celebrate his 20th birthday on March 10.
But Yevhen Malyshev also succumbed to attacks by Russian tanks, we learned on Tuesday.
Originally from Kharkiv, the country's second city, the scene of major clashes on Wednesday March 2, he died nearby, in the east of the country.
VIDEO.
Russian bombings in Ukraine: the Ukrainian president denounces a “war crime” in Kharkiv
A portrait of the teenager was brandished this Wednesday in Beijing by a Ukrainian journalist.
The latter, outraged by the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Paralympic Winter Games under a neutral barrier, asked the President of the International Paralympic Committee the following question: "What do you have to say to his family about letting athletes participate whose country attacks another, when he cannot?
".
🎙 "Yevhen was a biathlete. He was killed yesterday."
🇺🇦 Very emotional sequence at the Paralympic Winter Games.
A Ukrainian journalist, in tears, challenges the president of the International Paralympic Committee by brandishing the portrait of a biathlete killed by a Russian bombardment.
pic.twitter.com/AwAOSaRvQ5
– RMC Sport (@RMCsport) March 2, 2022
“May the heroes never die”, for their part paid tribute to his former teammates.
The Norwegian star of the discipline Tiril Echkoff, imploring for his part to stop “this p… of war.
This man should have kept his youth, doing biathlon, not ending his life in the war.
My heart is broken ".