A Ukrainian Olympic gymnast coach is pleading with the sporting world to do more to help Ukrainians fight against Russia.
Ireesha Blohina spoke out after a ten-year-old young gymnast was killed in a bomb attack on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Kateryna Dyachenko's body was discovered beneath the rubble after a huge bomb hit her house, UK news site Metro reports. She was found next to her father who also died from the explosion.
Metro reports Blohina was teary-eyed when speaking of the young girl.
"It's a huge loss because Katya had a dream, just like any other little girl today has a dream," she said.
"Katya lost hers, she had everything taken away from her.
"I don't know how Katya's mother has the strength, I will do anything I can to help her and the other families in Mariupol who are suffering."
Blohina wants people to take action and help those who are suffering in Ukraine.
"The world of sports needs to stand up against this war, to start creating a safety net and standing up to the Russian regime," she said.
"It's a million times worse than a horror film. It's hard to believe this is the reality today."
On Tuesday, a European official warned Mariupol could fall within days, saying it may suffer more than the town of Bucha, where Russian forces have been accused of atrocities the Kremlin has denied.
"At the end of the day, we do expect a complete destruction of the city and many civilian casualties in Mariupol," said the European official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic.
"My fear is that it is going to be worse than Bucha. And by May 9, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin could declare he liberated the city of Mariupol... So, I guess Mariupol will be controlled in the coming days."
Local authorities say thousands of people have been killed in the siege of Mariupol.
Moscow denies targeting civilians in what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, which it claims is aimed at demilitarising the country and rooting out dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and the West dismiss Russia's stance as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
The European official said he believed Russia's medium-term objective was to control the Luhansk and Donetsk territories in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and to secure a land bridge between Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014, and the Donbas.
This would likely take between four and six months, the official said, adding the conflict could result in a stalemate.
Reuters / Newshub.
