New Delhi, May 7: Ukrainian weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko died on the frontline during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the media reported on Monday.
According to the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Oleksandr, 30, joined the army shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you that the heart of merited master of sports of Ukraine…Oleksandr Pielieshenko stopped beating today,” the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation (UWF) said.
At the Rio Olympics in 2016, he was ranked fourth in the 85kg category and also won gold at the European championships in 2016 and 2017.
But Oleksandr was banned in the 2018 weightlifting season due to doping.
Since the war started in Ukraine, more than 400 Ukrainian athletes have been killed.
The organizers of the Olympic Games 2024, scheduled for July-August, are worried and trying to ensure that Russian and Ukrainian athletes do not come face to face.
