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      Zinchenko visits school devastated by Russian attacks as Arsenal star signs up to captain team in Ukraine charity game

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      OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO visited a school devastated by Russian attacks in Ukraine.Arsenal star Zinchenko, 26, and former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, 46, are ambassadors for United24.
      Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Shevchenko have visited Mykhailo-Kotsyubinsky Lyceum in Chernihiv OblastCredit: Instagram @u24.gov.ua
      They also saw Ukraine’s president Volodymyr ZelenskyyCredit: Instagram @u24.gov.ua
      The duo visited a school that has been devastated by Russian attacksCredit: Instagram @u24.gov.ua
      Around 100 people have been hiding in the shelter inside the lyceum.Credit: Instagram @u24.gov.ua
      That is the initiative set up by heroic president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive charitable donations to support Ukraine, who are fighting to defend their territory against the illegal Russian invasion.
      Zinchenko and Shevchenko – who coached the Ukrainian national team between 2016-2021 – travelled to the Mykhailo-Kotsyubinsky Lyceum in Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukraine.
      The village was under occupation for 33 days from February 27 last year, with around 100 people hiding in the shelter inside the secondary school.
      A third of them were children, with the youngest only two months old.
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      On March 4, Russian missiles fired on the school, killing a worker on the first floor and destroying 90 per cent of the roof as well as the classrooms for physics, computer science and chemistry.
      Funds will be raised to rebuild the school from the Game4Ukraine charity match.
      It will be held at Shevchenko’s old stomping ground, Stamford Bridge, on August 5.
      Zinchenko and Shevchenko will captain each side, Team Yellow and Team Blue, the two colours of the Ukrainian flag, and tickets are on sale now.
      Most read in Football
      Zinchenko enjoyed a strong first season at Arsenal as he cemented himself among the club’s most important players.
      However, he suffered disappointment at the end of the season as the Gunners’ saw their title challenge fade away after a run of poor results allowed Manchester City to overtake them.
      He was heartbroken by the scenes from his homeland after Russia invaded back in February 2022.
      And he was anxious over the well-being of his family – with his granddad and aunt refusing to join the thousands fleeing the country.
      Zinchenko was desperate to go and help his people – but was convinced by family and friends to stay in the North West and carry on playing for former side City.
      In the meantime, he has done his bit to keep his country’s sad plight in the public eye. More

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      Arsenal DELETE tweet wishing Andrey Arshavin happy birthday after they’re hit with furious backlash from Ukrainians

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      ARSENAL deleted a tweet wishing Andrey Arshavin a happy birthday after a furious backlash.Former forward Arshavin turned 42 on Monday.
      Andrey Arshavin famously scored four goals at Liverpool in 2009Credit: Getty
      And the club posted a video of his memorable four goals in the 4-4 draw with Liverpool in 2009, alongside the message: “Wishing you a great day, Andrey.”
      But the post received criticism from Ukrainians due to Arshavin being Russian.
      The two nations have been at war since February 2022 when Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine, the home nation of Gunners left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko.
      Arshavin, who scored 31 goals in 144 Arsenal appearances between 2008 and 2013, regularly works for Russian TV as a pundit but reportedly agreed to fight in the army should he get conscripted.
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      And furious supporters slammed the North London side for the birthday post.
      Ukrainian football account @ZoryaLondonsk said: “It’s another week and it’s another club throwing itself into a social media scandal involving ‘good fortune’ towards Russia / a Russian…
      “Last October, Arshavin said he’d serve in the Russian army (vs Ukraine) if conscripted and regularly works for Russian state TV… Terrible optics.”
      @KarpatyLvivFC added: “28 May: Russian army attacked Zhytomyr region, home region of Alex Zinchenko, by a missile strike.
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      “29 May: Arsenal send greetings to Russian player Andrey Arshavin.
      “How Zinchenko and all Ukrainians must feel about it, @Arsenal?”
      The original Gunners tweet was soon deleted and removed from the club’s profile, which has 21.6million followers.
      Arshavin joined from Zenit under Arsene Wenger but failed to win any trophies in his five years – but did etch his name into Arsenal folklore with that memorable performance at Anfield.
      He returned to his boyhood club in 2013 and had spells with Kuban Krasnodar and Kairat before retiring in 2018.
      Arshavin made 75 caps for Russia and came sixth in the 2008 Ballon d’Or.
      Fans threw their support behind Oleksandr ZinchenkoCredit: EPA More

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      Ukrainian boxing champ Oleksandr Onyshchenko killed fighting Russians near besieged city Bakhmut

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      A UKRAINIAN boxing champion has been killed fighting Russians on the frontline.Oleksandr Onyshchenko – who was on the country’s national team – died in combat near the besieged city of Bakhmut.
      Boxer Oleksandr Onyshchenko has died fighting in UkraineCredit: East2West
      The sports champion was killed near the besieged city of BakhmutCredit: East2West
      The 30-year-old’s coach, Dmytro Dubrov, described him as “one of the best boxers” in an emotional tribute.
      He said: “He was one of my best students. 
      “He was like a son to me. I  coached him since he was nine years old. 
      “We went through a very difficult boxing path, he achieved a lot. 
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      “He was one of the best boxers in Sumy region and a two-time champion of Ukraine among young men.”
      Oleksandr’s funeral – attended by military comrades in the Sumy region and broadcast on TV – was held on Wednesday.
      A statement from Ukraine’s boxing federation said: “Oleksandr died near Bakhmut defending the Ukrainian homeland from the Russian enemy.
      “The Boxing Federation of Ukraine expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Oleksandr.
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      “Eternal memory to all those who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of our country.”
      The city of Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest fighting since the war broke out in February last year.
      Vladimir Putin’s forces took almost 300 days to seize control of the city which has been described as having only limited wider strategic importance to the war in Ukraine.
      Russia pushed forward just 60ft a day, suffered up to 100,000 casualties, and left Bakhmut a shattered hellscape in a painfully slow grinding nine-month advance.
      The city was once home to 73,000 Ukrainians and how has been left in ruins.
      Pictures show burning buildings and totally destroyed streets devoid of all life after months of what has been described as the “bloodiest battle” of the war in Ukraine.
      Ukraine says their soldiers have played a key role in their strategy of exhausting the Russians.
      And they say their current positions in the areas surrounding Bakhmut will let them strike back inside the 400-year-old city.
      The city was immediately on the frontline of the war when Putin invaded on February 24, 2022 – being regularly shelled by the Russians
      But it wasn’t until last August that the Russians made the city its prime target – pouring in troops in staggering numbers.
      Russia have estimated to have suffered up to 100,000 casualties – including 20,000 dead – during the battle.
      Nato officials believe the Ukrainians had been holding the Russians at a rate of five-to-one – meaning they lost around 20,000 men.
      The fighting devolved into brutal hand-to-hand and street-by-street combat – with some reports putting a the life expectancy for those on the frontline to be just four hours.
      Bakhmut had become a highly symbolic battle for both Ukraine and Russia – being dubbed a “meat grinder” and compared to the World War 1 battles such as the Somme and Verdun.
      Russian forces – led by the Wagner Group mercenaries and their deranged warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin – claimed to have captured the city over the weekend.
      Ukraine however remained defiant – and President Volodymyr Zelensky denied the city was occupied while his forces appeared to be regrouping on the outskirts.
      Ukraine’s tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem, according to some analysts.
      Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews said: “It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak.
      “The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that … it cannot go forward anymore.”
      The Institute for the Study of War reports that Ukrainian troops have bunkered down in the city’s southwest on highway T0504.
      Read More on The Sun
      It added there has been a “tacit acknowledgment” from Ukraine that the Russians control the rest of Bakhmut.
      Ukrainian forces however report they are continuing to push and are moving to encircle some of the Russian forces.
      Oleksandr’s funeral was held on WednesdayCredit: East2West
      He was killed near the besieged city of BakhmutCredit: AFP More

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      Huge stars lined up as Chelsea host Ukraine fundraising game a year after Russian owner Abramovich quit

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      CHELSEA is set to host a star charity football match to aid war-torn Ukraine.The game comes just over a year after its Russian former owner Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club.
      Alex Scott is being lined up to take part in the event
      England hero David Beckham is also ready to turn out in support of UkraineCredit: Getty
      The game comes just over a year after Russian Roman Abramovich was forced to sell ChelseaCredit: AFP
      Celebs including TV host Alex Scott, singer Niall Horan, England hero David Beckham and pundit Rio Ferdinand — also an ex-Three Lions ace — are being lined up to take part in some form on August 5.
      Ex-Chelsea player Andriy Shevchenko and Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko — both Ukrainians — are tipped to captain the two teams at Stamford Bridge.
      Game4Ukraine will raise money for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s United24 global charity.
      Oligarch Abramovich quit Chelsea amid threats of sanctions after Vladimir Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
      READ MORE ON UKRAINE
      A source said: “Game4- Ukraine is going to be the biggest charity event of the year.
      “As well as a massive match, there is going to be a huge half-time show from a couple of big name stars.
      “It is going to be a stellar event.”
      The game is organised by Lester Holcombe, whose 2017 Game4Grenfell raised £900,000 for victims of the tower block disaster.
      Most read in Football
      Former 1D star Niall Horan will also be taking partCredit: Rex
      Ex-Chelsea player Andriy Shevchenko, above, and Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko — both Ukrainians — are tipped to captain the two teams at Stamford BridgeCredit: Getty More

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      Red tape ‘holding up’ £2.34billion in aid for Ukraine from sale of Chelsea FC

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      RED tape is said to be holding up £2.34billion in aid for Ukraine from the sale of Chelsea FC.The cash was pledged when Roman Abramovich was barred from benefiting from offloading the club.
      The £2.34billion in aid was pledged when Roman Abramovich was barred from benefiting from offloading ChelseaCredit: Getty
      It should have gone to good causes in Ukraine — but has been stuck in a sanctioned account since US tycoon Todd Boehly’s consortium paid £4.25billion for The Blues in May last year.
      The foundation set up to deliver the aid has said it cannot start work until it gets the green light from the UK and EU.
      Acting CEO Mike Penrose, former Unicef UK chief, said: “We’re ready to go and we’re just waiting for approval.
      “There are complexities and delays based around political approval both between the UK and the EU and within the UK.
      READ MORE ON CHELSEA
      “We won’t make any decisions until we know the money’s coming. We don’t want to end up with a charity but no money.”
      Russian oil magnate Abramovich, 56, was forced to sell Chelsea when he ignored demands to condemn Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion last year.
      He agreed his share should go to good causes in Ukraine.
      The funds have been earmarked for medical, housing and educational projects.
      Most read in Football
      Five months ago, UK Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told the Commons that he hoped the cash was “on the start of its journey to Ukraine”.
      The Foreign Office declined to comment last night.
      Canada, meanwhile, has said it plans to seize £21million in sanctioned Abramovich assets to divert to reconstruction projects in Ukraine. More

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      Vitaly Merinov dead at 32: Tributes paid to world kickboxing champ after Ukrainian dies on frontline of war with Russia

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      KICKBOXING champion Vitaly Merinov has died fighting in Ukraine aged 32.The Ukrainian was killed on the front line in the war with Russia with tributes quickly being paid to the “hero”.
      Vitaly Merinov died on the front line of the war with Russia
      Tributes have poured out for the 32-year-oldCredit: Reuters
      Merinov leaves behind a wife and daughterCredit: Reuters
      He was a national champion in kickboxing
      Merinov coached boxing and MMA
      Merinov died in hospital on March 31 according to the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ruslan Martsynkiv.
      He said: “During one of the fights, Vitaly received a gunshot wound in his leg. He recovered and returned to the front again and defended Ukraine to the last breath.
      “He has a wife and a two-year-old daughter left. Sincere condolences to the family and loved ones. Eternal memory to the Hero!”
      Merinov is a four-time world champion in kickboxing who is believed to have signed up for the war effort on the first day of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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      He reportedly leaves behind a wife and daughter and many have paid tribute to his heroic efforts.
      Two-time Winter Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych wrote: “Vitaly Merinov died at night from wounds received in battle.
      “Four-time world kickboxing champion Vitaly went to war on the very first day of the full-scale invasion. He defended Ukraine until his last breath.
      “He is survived by his wife and two-year-old daughter. Glory to the hero!”
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      One tribute read: “Vitaly Merinov died fighting for freedom, Justice & democracy. This hero will not be forgotten.”
      Another said: “What a brave person. Going back to the frontline when he was wounded. I know that this isn’t unusual in Ukraine, but still it’s.
      “I’m so sorry for Vitaly’s family and friends’ loss. RIP and glory fallen hero Vitaly Merinov 🙏”
      And a third commented: “Rest in heavenly peace hero Vitaly Merinov. Condolences to the loved ones. We will not forget we shall remember.”
      Merinov was also a national champion in MMA and earned the title of master of sports in boxing.
      Ukraine sports minister Vadym Huttsait revealed the war has claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes.
      Another boxing champion Maksym Galinichev passed away last week on the front lines – he was a European champion aged 22. More

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      in Soccer

      Russia must be stopped from forcing their way back into football and all sport until Putin ends massacre in Ukraine

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      RUSSIA must be stopped from forcing their way back into football — simple as that.Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine invalidates a return to humanity and should do so until he removes the troops he unleashed a year ago, who are still causing massive loss of life.
      Putin’s invasion of Ukraine means Russia must stay in the sporting wildernessCredit: AFP
      Gianni Infantino has displayed worrying signs he might let Russia back inCredit: Reuters
      For football fields, read killing fields. Any government with even a glimmer of morality must support Ukraine and their courageous people.
      That goes for all sport. Yet Fifa president Gianni Infantino is showing signs of relenting, while rogue states such as Syria and Iran are cuddling up to the Kremlin.
      Even more embarrassingly, Uefa are also said to be considering lifting the suspension, although Russia were not included in the current Euro qualifiers.
      Maybe both bodies are looking forward to the conclusion of the war, an eventuality that doesn’t seem to have affected Russian considerations so far, and certainly hasn’t Ukraine’s.
      MORE TOP FOOTBALL
      Why should it? The massacres in Ukraine make nonsense of the late Liverpool manager Bill Shankly’s dry half-joke that people think football much more serious than life and death.
      Five of the Stans of central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — once possessions of the Russian empire — have already agreed to play their former landlords.
      The whole quintet are in arid, just-about-inhabitable lands so no wonder the Russians weren’t too bothered about handing them independence.
      Like them, Syria and Iran are in Fifa.
      Most read in Football
      Indeed, Iran beat Syria in the qualifying rounds for the Qatar World Cup, in which Iran played.
      Fifa have to juggle their politics but it would be a breach of responsibility were they to stand at the touchline of the current war and open competition for the evil Putin’s teams.
      Putin is the rotten core at the heart of Russia.
      But now, incredibly, the IOC are considering whether the country’s athletes should be allowed to compete under the national flag at the Paris Games in 2024.
      Lord Sebastian Coe, president of World  Athletics, is having none of this. He didn’t win two Olympic golds to watch his sport descend into hypocrisy.
      Gianni ‘I feel like a woman’ Infantino has not committed to official Russian entry into the bloated World Cup 2026 in North America.
      Football must have nothing to do with the Kremlin until the bombs stop dropping, the kidnapped children are sent home and the tanks trundle back.
      Awarded the Russian Order of Friendship, it seems that the friendship might have become less friendly, although not enough for Gianni to return the medal pinned on him by Putin himself in 2019.
      Infantino has practically been voted president unanimously (how does he do that?) and continues to see himself as a well-dressed world leader in white shoes with an even whiter reputation.
      He failed though when he tried to silence the bloody sounds of war for the month of the Qatar competition.
      Gross naivety, gross vanity.
      Neither Putin nor Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s leader, appear to have given a moment of thought to a truce.
      Putin has all the principles of a starving rat and would have used the month to rebuild his stock of weaponry.
      Poor repressed Belarus would have helped and Iran-made drones flown in by the thousand.
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      Ukraine, the excellent Shakhtar Donetsk and others, continue to play to a background of war.
      Football must have nothing to do with the Kremlin until the bombs stop dropping on factories, schools, hospitals and homes, until all the kidnapped children are sent home and until the tanks trundle back over the border. More

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      Boxing legend Klitschko blasts Olympic bosses’ decision to allow Russian athletes to compete under ‘neutral flag’

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      WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO has accused Olympic boss Thomas Bach of “serving the interests of Russia” by offering their athletes a way back.Yesterday the International Olympic Committee set out recommendations for sporting bodies to allow individuals, but not teams, from Russia and Belarus to take part in competitions under a neutral flag.
      Wladimir Klitschko accused Olympic boss Thomas Bach of ‘serving the interests of Russia’ by offering their athletes a way backCredit: AFP
      A decision on whether they can compete at Paris 2024 has not yet been taken.
      But former Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Klitschko, who is fighting invading Russian troops in his homeland, slammed the proposals.
      Klitschko, 47, said: “The IOC authorises the athletes to participate in the Olympic Games under ‘neutral flags’. This decision is a false flag.
      “Thomas Bach serves the colours and interests of Russia. This decision contaminates the Olympic spirit and is like this war — a nonsense.”
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      Klistchko’s swipe comes after the sad death of 22-year-old Ukrainian boxer Maksym Galinichev.
      Galinichev, a European amateur champion, was killed in battle against the Russian Army near Kreminna.
      Klitschko, who became super-heavyweight Olympic champion at the 1996 Atlanta Games, also pointedly re-tweeted old images of Bach laughing and talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko.
      The IOC’s Executive Board have considered the findings of a four-month consultation.
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      Speaking in Lausanne, IOC president Bach said: “We see that in a number of sports — tennis, cycling, handball, football, ice hockey — it’s already working.
      “You see athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport participating in competitions, even against Ukrainian athletes.”
      International Olympic Committee president Thomas BachCredit: AFP More