Karate club pays tribute to six-year-old boy killed in Russian attack on Kyiv

Matvii Marchenko was killed in a Russian attack on Kyiv on 31 July. He was six years old. 

Matvii was enrolled in a Kyiv karate club, Sen-Bin, and had been training there for a year and a half.

Source: Ukrainian Karate Federation

Details: Matvii’s coach, Ihor Yefymenko, said that he was "a lovely boy, very well-behaved".

"In the past six months, he seemed to have grown up and started working for results. One day he came up to me and said: ‘Ihor Anatoliiovych, I want to beat everyone and win more medals than my brother Lev’," Yefymenko said.

Matvii was the youngest of three boys. His older brothers – 8-year-old Mykhailo and 12-year-old Lev – also practise karate.

Quote from the Ukrainian Karate Federation: "The world has to know: it’s not only children who are being killed in Ukraine. Our future is being killed. And every such killing is not just a tragedy for one family. It is the pain of the entire nation.

The Ukrainian Karate Federation, the Sen-Bin club and the entire karate community of Ukraine express their deepest condolences to Matvii Marchenko’s parents, brothers and relatives, and to everyone who knew and loved him." 

Details: The Bryhantyna children’s water sports club, which Matvii attended, also expressed their condolences.

"Today we lost one of our athletes and members of the Bryhantyna club – Matvii Marchenko. During the enemy strike, a missile hit a section of the building where he lived.

There are no words… Rest in peace, Matvii," the club wrote.

Background:

• On the night of 30-31 July, Russia attacked Ukraine with 317 drones and missiles, most of which targeted Kyiv. 
• As of the evening of 31 July, 145 people were reported injured and at least 15 killed. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!