Russia’s war against Ukraine has claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes and destroyed 363 sports facilities, the country’s Sports Minister Vadym Khuchayit said on Saturday.

At a meeting with the President of the International Gymnastics Federation, Morinari Watanabe Hutseit, said that no athlete from Russia should take part in the Olympic Games or other sporting events.

“Everyone supports this war and takes part in activities in support of this war,” Huchayit said, according to a transcript posted on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s website.

The International Olympic Committee has proposed the gradual return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions as neutrals. He has not yet made a decision about their participation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Six civilians killed in Russian bombing

Meanwhile, six civilians were killed and eight wounded in a Russian shelling of Konstantinovka in eastern Ukraine on Sunday morning, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Konstantinovka, which had a population of about 70,000 before the war, is just 20 kilometers west of Bakhmut and is the center of hostilities lasting at least eight months as Russian forces attempt to take over the town.

“The Russians were shelling the city of Kostanovka,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on the messaging app Telegram.

According to him, 16 apartment buildings, eight private houses, a kindergarten and an office building were damaged.

Yerma added photos showing partial destruction of buildings and craters from explosions.

Source: Reuters, APE-MPE.