11-Year-Old Ukranian Gymnast Found Dead – Victim of Russian Missile

Ukrainian gymnastics star Kateryna Diachenko, 11, was killed when a house in Mariupol was hit by a Russian missile, say reports. 

The young athlete was in the property when it was hit, in a city that has been under intense Russian bombardment for weeks. 

Her coach Anastasia Meshchanenkov said: ‘She was supposed to conquer the world, but died buried in rubble.’

 ‘Look at this talented girl. She was supposed to give her smiles to the world.’

‘Look at this talented girl.’

‘She was supposed to give her smiles to the world.

‘What are children guilty of?

‘I believe that there is a space in hell for everyone who is involved – and as soon as possible.”

She posted: ‘I cannot speak, maybe when I come back to my senses.’

The girl was a rhythmic gymnast – the sport in which Vladimir Putin’s supposed partner Alina Kabaeva won an Olympic Gold medal and countless other honours.

A petition has been started to demand he is thrown out of Switzerland where reports suggested she was hiding during the war with children she supposedly shares with Putin.

‘It’s time you reunite Eva Braun with her Führer,’ says the incendiary petition.

Another report indicated she had retreated to a hi-tech underground city in Siberia.

Kabaeva – who plays a major role training young gymnasts in Russia – has not commented on her death even though condolences have come in from around the world.

Bulgarian gymnast Iliana Raeva said: ‘I can’t believe we live in such a cruel world.’

In her only comment on the war, Kabaeva castigated the refusal to allow the Russian team to compete at the Beijing Paralympics.

‘There has never been a more shameful page in the history of world sports,’ she said.

Kateryna’s mother Marina Diachenko has not spoken about her loss.

Her son Artyom, Kateryna’s younger brother, is a talented kickboxer.

A missile hit the building where Kateryna was at the time, according to reports.

Russian forces have surrounded Mariupol, a city in south-eastern Ukraine which had a population of nearly half a million before the war, and are pounding it with heavy artillery and airstrikes. 

Local officials say at least 300 people were killed in the city on March 16, when Russian bombs struck a central theatre. 

Forces loyal to Putin, including Chechen special forces, are reported to have reached the centre of Mariupol where they are clashing with Ukrainian troops.