133 athletes and coaches have died during the war in Ukraine, as the country marks six months of conflict

By Kevin Dotson, Sammy Mngqosini and Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1401 GMT (2201 HKT) August 24, 2022

Players from Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv observe a moment of silence for all those killed in the war as the Ukrainian Premier League restarts.

(CNN)Thirty-one years ago, the Ukrainian Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union was issued, an occasion traditionally marked with celebrations and military parades in the streets of Kyiv.

Ukraine's Independence Day this year marks six months exactly since Russia invaded and began a bloody war which continues to rage across the country. Among those who have been killed are 133 Ukrainian athletes and coaches, the Ukraine Ministry of Youth and Sports announced on Tuesday. «The flag will no longer be raised and the anthem will no longer be played in honor of the sports victories of the deceased athletes,» Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Gutzait wrote. «Russia invaded Ukraine and took their lives. 133 athletes and coaches have died on the battlefield and from enemy shelling.» Read MoreCNN is not able to independently confirm the number of deaths of Ukrainian athletes and coaches.The website 'Sports Angels' details the lives of each sportsperson killed during the war — some on combat missions, some in their homes destroyed by shelling.Archer Dmytro Sydoruk «died defending Ukraine.» After he was injured in 2014, Sydoruk represented Ukraine at the first ever Invictus Games — an event for wounded soldiers founded by Prince Harry — in 2017 and won a silver medal in archery. Dmytro Sydoruk won a silver medal for Ukraine in the 2017 Invictus Games.He was the coach of the national Invictus and Warrior Games, as well as a coordinator of the Invictus team in Lviv at