The Basketball Federation of Kyiv reported that 17-year-old Ukrainian basketball player Volodymyr Yermakov was killed in Germany on the evening of February 11 - he and another athlete were attacked with knives.
They said that Volodymyr Yermakov and his friend Artem Kozachenko played for the ART Giants (U-19) youth team from Düsseldorf. On the eve of the next match, the young basketball players were attacked with knives in the street.
"On the eve of the next match, the young basketball players were attacked with knives in the street simply because they are Ukrainians," the Kyiv Federation said.
"The whole team spent the night in the hospital next to our boys. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save Yermakov, and Kozachenko remains in intensive care. Local police are already investigating the case, there were witnesses at the crime scene," they said.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko later said that the attacker on the Ukrainian basketball players in Germany had already been detained.
UPDATED
Ukrainian basketball player Volodymyr Yermakov was stabbed to death in Germany by a 15-year-old schoolboy of German-Turkish descent after a conflict on a bus, a BILD source reports. The incident did not take place in Düsseldorf, as originally reported, but in neighboring Oberhausen.
According to the publication, around 20:00, a 17-year-old Ukrainian was returning home with an 18-year-old teammate. On the bus, they got into an argument with local schoolchildren. When the athletes got off the bus near the train station, teenagers attacked them with knives. This was caught on surveillance cameras.
Yermakov died in hospital from his wounds, and Kozachenko was seriously injured.
The suspects were detained. The main one is a 15-year-old schoolboy of German-Turkish descent from Gelsenkirchen, already known to the police for several attacks and robberies. The second is a 14-year-old schoolboy of German-Greek origin from Herne, also known to the police. The first was arrested, the second was handed over to his guardians.
