Fans mourn death of kickboxing world champion killed in Ukraine

The sporting world is mourning the death of Ukrainian kickboxing champion Maksym Kagal, who was killed defending his country in the war against Russia.

The 30-year-old was reportedly fighting Russian troops in an attempt to defend the city of Mariupol, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting since the invasion in late February.

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Kagal's coach Oleh Skyrta announced the devastating news of his death on Monday.

“Unfortunately, the war takes the best. On 25 March 2022, while defending the city of Mariupol as part of the Azov Separate Special Forces Unit, Maxim ‘Piston’ Kagal [was killed]," Skyrta wrote.

Skyrta described Kagal as “the first world kickboxing champion from the glorious city of Kremenchug, the first world champion among adults in the team of Ukraine, and just an honest and decent person”.

“Sleep well, brother, rest in peace to you, we will avenge you,” he added.

Kagal had won the ISKA World Kickboxing Championship in 2020.

Kagal was one of a number of Ukrainian athletes who have taken up arms against Russia.

Former tennis players Alexandr Dolgopolov and Sergiy Stakhovsky have joined boxing heroes Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko in the fighting on the frontlines.

Former world champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko have also joined the fighting.

Young football players Vitalii Sapylo, 21, and Dmytro Martynenko, 25, have been killed in the war.

"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," FIFPRO, the global union for professional football players, announced last month.

"May they both rest in peace."

Ukraine warns of humanitarian crisis in Mariupol

On Monday, Ukraine warned the humanitarian crisis in Mariupol was now "catastrophic", with thousands dead as fighting surged around Kyiv.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that around 5000 people have been buried in the besieged city of Mariupol.

But Tetyana Lomakina, a presidential adviser now in charge of humanitarian corridors, said the burials stopped 10 days ago because of "continued shelling", adding that as many as 10,000 people may have died since the start of the Russian invasion.

"The enemy is trying to break through the corridor around Kyiv and block transport routes," Ukraine's deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said.

"To capture Kyiv is essentially a captured Ukraine, and this is their goal."

UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the global body is seeking a humanitarian ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, as the civilian toll continues to rise.

Guterres told reporters he had asked UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths "immediately to explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine."

He said he hoped Griffiths would go to both Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after he returns from a mission to Afghanistan.

About 20,000 Ukrainians have been killed in Russia's month-long invasion and 10 million have fled their homes, with several cities still coming under withering bombardment.

Ukraine Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said there was proof that Russian forces have used banned cluster bombs in the southern Odessa and Kherson areas.

with AFP

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