Ukrainian kickboxing world champion Maksym Kagal ‘killed in combat against Russia’ in the siege of Mariupol
A UKRAINIAN kickboxing world champion has been killed while fighting in the besieged city of Mariupol, his coach has confirmed.
Maksym Kagal, 30, died as be battled Russian forces as part of Ukraine’s Azov Battalion unit on Friday.
In a statement posted on Facebook, coach Oleg Skirta said: “Unfortunately, the war takes the best.
“On 25 March, while defending the city of Mariupol as part of the Azov Separate Special Forces Unit, Maksym Kagal died.
He added: "Sleep well, Brother, rest in peace, we will avenge you."
The talented kickboxer, from the city of Kremenchug, was crowned world champion as part of the ISKA team in 2014.
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He was described by his coach as "the first world champion among adults in the team of Ukraine, and just an honest and decent person.”
Kagal’s death came on the same day as a further 300 were killed in a brutal bombing of a theatre in the city where more than 1,000 terrified people were sheltering for safety.
Currently, Mariupol is being flattened by a squadron of 25 Russian bombers flying sorties over the city every day - with 90 per cent of all buildings damaged or destroyed.
Around 14,000 elite Russian troops surround the city, with many of the 400,000 residents - trapped without power and running water - drinking from puddles to survive.
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Bodies litter the streets, while others have been buried in mass graves because the ceaseless bombardment makes it impossible to hold funerals.
Russian troops also reduced a school to rubble in the city, where around 400 civilians were sheltering when the building was hit by thermobaric TOS-1A rockets, which can melt human organs.
The strategically vital port city has suffered near-constant bombings and shelling since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24.
Apocalyptic drone footage shows the extent of the damage to the city, with one official describing it as reduced to "the ashes of a dead land".
Dashcam footage shared on Twitter reveals a desolate, ruined landscape, with eastern European news agency Visegrad writing: "Mariupol looks like a ghost town."
Human Rights Watch has described conditions in the city as a "freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings".
In a Telegram post, Mariupol's City Council said five out of its six hospitals had been destroyed, with 100 new patients requiring treatment each day.
Yet on Monday, it was revealed that Russia intend to compound further misery on the besieged city after sending in Putin’s favoured Chechen warlord to oversee operations.
Hardman Ramzan Kadyrov, who is notoriously known for his methods of medieval torture, reportedly met with the commander of the 8th Army, General Andrey Mordvichev.
The city’s mayor has subsequently called for a "complete evacuation" of the city.
Vadym Boichenko told : "Not everything is in our power.
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"Unfortunately, we are in the hands of hands of the occupiers today."
He added that nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the city since Russian forces laid siege to it.
