In the third week of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a young Ukrainian athlete, Kyiv native Dmytro Yevdochenko, was killed in an enemy shelling. He was only 15 years old.
Dmytro had played football since childhood, joining the capital’s Atlet club at the age of six. Despite health issues in early childhood, his relentless training and determination made him a promising footballer.
When the enemy began ruthlessly shelling Kyiv, Dmytro’s family decided that Chernihiv Oblast would be safer. On February 25, 2022, he and his mother set off for the village of Pisky, seeking refuge at a family friend’s country house, while his father, Serhii, remained in Kyiv due to urgent work. However, Russian troops soon occupied Pisky, cutting off electricity and leaving the family with dwindling food supplies. Realizing they could not stay, they decided to escape toward Kyiv.
Tragedy struck on March 11, 2022, near the village of Birky in Chernihiv Oblast. The car carrying Dmytro and his family came under Russian fire. Dmytro and his mother, Maryna, who were sitting in the back seat, were killed. It wasn’t until evening that Ukrainian soldiers were able to retrieve their bodies.
The young footballer’s father mourns the loss of his son and wife. “Whenever I see a mother with a boy who looks like Dima, the pain becomes unbearable,” says Serhii Yevdochenko.
Eternal light and memory to the fallen.