Ukrainian teen basketball player killed in Germany
Editor's note: The article initially said that the murder took place in Dusseldorf, Germany. It was later clarified that it took place in the nearby city of Oberhausen, which is part of the Dusseldorf administrative region.
Seventeen-year-old basketball player Volodymyr Yermakov was killed in a street attack in Germany, the Kyiv Basketball Federation (FBK) reported Feb. 11.
Yermakov played for the ART Giants youth team in Dusseldorf. The night before an upcoming match, on Feb. 10, he and his teammate Artem Kozachenko were reportedly attacked with knives on the street.
Yermakov died in the hospital of injuries sustained in the attack. Kozachenko remains in intensive care.
The entire ART Giants youth team reportedly spent the night in the hospital with Yermakov and Kozachenko following the attack.
According to the FBK, the young men's attackers may have been motivated by hatred against Ukraine. The players "were attacked with knives in the street simply because they were Ukrainians," the FBK said in their announcement.
Local police are currently investigating the attack.
Yermakov played basketball throughout his childhood and was a member of Ukraine's youth national team at the 2022 European Championship in Bulgaria. The FBK and Ukraine's national Basketball Federation (FBU) expressed condolences to Yermakov's family.
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