KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko died on the front line in the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee said on Monday.
Pielieshenko "died in the war with the enemy" on Sunday, the committee posted on Telegram. He was 30.
He joined Ukraine's armed forces in the first days of Russia's invasion, the committee added.
Pielieshenko came back from a doping suspension in 2013-15 to win the 2016 European under-85 kilogram division by one kilogram. He successfully retained the title in 2017 in Split.
Pielieshenko missed out on an Olympic medal by five kilograms at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where he placed fourth. He committed a second doping violation in 2018.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that today the heart of the honored master of sports of Ukraine, two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko, stopped beating,” the Ukrainian weightlifting federation said on Facebook.
National coach Viktor Slobodianiuk added on Facebook, “War takes the best of us.. This is a very heavy loss for the entire weightlifting community of Ukraine. Heroes do not die.”
More than 400 Ukrainian athletes and officials have been killed in the war.
AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - Oleksandr Pielieshenko, of Ukraine, celebrates after a lift in the men's 85kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 12, 2016. The Ukrainian Olympic Committee says two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko has died on the front line in the war in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia reported some 60 drones and several missiles shot down over its territory overnight into Sunday, with Ukraine in turn saying it destroyed over 30 Russian drones. Russia’s renewed offensive continues to play out in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast.
Russian air defenses shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over its southern Krasnodar region overnight Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday morning.
Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no fire or damage. Local news outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.
Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, following Friday morning’s massive Ukrainian drone attack that cut off power in the city of Sevastopol.
A further three drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. According to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, a church roof was set on fire by falling drone debris, but there were no casualties.
The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that one person died and 16 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus on Sunday morning.
In Ukraine, air force officials said air defense shot down all 37 Russian drones launched against the country overnight.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Moscow recently launched a new offensive, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday morning that one person died and 11 were wounded as a result of shelling over the previous day.
Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city.
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Morton reported from London.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov and Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Ukrainian police officers look for fragments of a glide bomb in front of damaged house after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Ukrainian police officer and war crime prosecutor inspect fragments of a glide bomb in front of damaged house, after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
