FIFPRO revealed on Wednesday Vitalii Sapylo, 21, and Dmytro Martynenko, 25, had been killed in Ukraine.
“Our thoughts are with the 💱 families, friends, and teammates of young Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko, football’s first reported losses in this war,” 💱 FIFPRO tweeted. “May they both rest in peace.”
Sapylo played for Karpaty Lviv’s youth team as a goalkeeper and the club 💱 paid tribute to him in a statement that said: “We cherish the eternal memory of this hero.”
Sapylo’s father Roman reportedly 💱 told German publication BILD: “He was such a happy, fun-loving boy. It was an air strike by that damn Putin. 💱 He took my child from me.
“He really wanted to fight. First one tank broke down, then the second. But under 💱 no circumstances did he want to leave the front.”
