Six stabbings after the question "Are you Ukrainians?": the details of the murder of a 17-year-old basketball player in Germany were told by the boy's father, who survived

The father of 18-year-old Ukrainian basketball player Artem Kozachenko said that his son was stabbed six times during the attack in Oberhausen. Fortunately, German doctors were able to save the boy's life, but Artem's friend, 17-year-old Volodymyr Yermakov, died during surgery. According to his father, the athletes tried to avoid a conflict with a group of local teenagers to the last, but they purposefully followed them off the bus and then attacked them.

In a commentary to 1+1 Breakfast, Artem Kozachenko Sr. confirmed that his son and Vova had been friends since childhood, playing for the same team in Kyiv. And then, fleeing Russian aggression, in 2023 they ended up in Düsseldorf together and continued their careers in the youth team of the local club ART Giants.

On Saturday, February 10, just before their next game, Volodymyr, Artem and his girlfriend went for a walk to the CentrO shopping center in Oberhausen. Around 8 p.m., the basketball players boarded a bus to the main train station to catch a train to their home in Düsseldorf.

"A large group of West Asian guys were sitting behind them. About eight people. And they immediately began to provoke: they pushed Artem, kicked Vova. Our children didn't react, they understood everything," Kozachenko Sr. said.

But the German teenagers still did not let the athletes rest. When Artem and Vova had to get off at their station, they asked: "Are you Ukrainians?" The boys answered that they are, and got off at the train station.

"They whispered to each other, followed them out and started shouting after them. According to Artem, they were shouting 'Scheisse Ukraine'. Then they ran up, hit Artem's girlfriend, hit Artem in the face. A scuffle started, and the boys were beaten," Kozachenko said.

It was only when Artem and Vova were already bleeding that strangers who were at the station intervened in the fight: "When people started coming up from the side, the attackers started running away. The guys lay down, started plugging their wounds, called ambulances and the police..."

Yermakov and Kozachenko were taken to the hospital in time, but Volodymyr's injuries were incompatible with life. And Artem, despite being stabbed six times, survived the operation and is slowly recovering. His condition is serious but stable. His girlfriend, fortunately, was not seriously injured.

However, two other young people were injured in the conflict at the station - a 14-year-old Syrian boy from Gelsenkirchen and a 13-year-old German girl with Lebanese roots.

Artem Kozachenko Sr. confirmed that the police had detained one suspect. Earlier it became known that thanks to CCTV cameras, law enforcement officers were able to identify two attackers. The main suspect is a 15-year-old schoolboy of Turkish origin from Gelsenkirchen.

Despite his young age, he is already well known to the police because he has already committed several assaults and robberies. The second attacker is a 14-year-old German of Greek descent from Herne, who is also known to law enforcement officials. However, the 14-year-old suspect in the murder of the Ukrainian basketball player was released due to insufficient evidence.

"As a father, I would not wish this on anyone, not even an enemy. I would like the trial to take place and everything to be fair. I am grateful to God for saving Artem and his girlfriend's lives. And I am grateful to all Ukrainians who supported us," said Kozachenko Sr.

As a reminder, the Ukrainians were attacked on the eve of their club's next match. The children played for the ART Giants (U-19) youth team from Dusseldorf. Yermakov used to play basketball and played in the Teivaz and 5T.EAM-DUSSH-12 children's teams (born in 2006). As a member of the Ukrainian U-16 national team, he played at the 2022 European Championships in Bulgaria.

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