Russian Attack on Cherkasy: The Only Athletics Base in the Region Destroyed

According to glavcom.ua: On the night of December 18, Cherkasy became a target of attacks by Russian drones, which severely damaged the city’s civil infrastructure. In addition, the regional sports complex 'Manezh', which is the only one in the region specializing in athletics, suffered particularly, reports 'Glavkom'.

The sports complex was seriously damaged as a result of the explosive wave. The director of the children's and youth Olympic reserve sports school, Leonid Sirenko, reported that 14 panoramic windows measuring 6 by 4 meters were broken, as well as 32 windows 3 meters high along about 40 meters. As a result of the attack, locker rooms and internal passages were also damaged, as well as private houses and cars, but fortunately, human casualties were avoided.

Due to the destruction and the threat to safety, the All-Ukrainian Athletics Championships scheduled for December 19-20 were canceled. However, the management of the sports complex stated their readiness to continue working, moving part of the training to the running tracks and the street.

The Cherkasy Regional Council has started eliminating the consequences of the attack and appealed for help from international partners to quickly restore the damaged sports facilities. This is not the first case where Russian aggression is directed against sports institutions in Ukraine; last year, the training base of the football club 'Dnipro-1' also suffered from attacks by Russian occupiers.