The situation in Ukraine has been a dire
one for months. The upheaval of the government, tensions along the
Ukrainian-Russian border and infighting among native Ukrainians has dominated
world headlines. Tuesday has been a particularly dark day in the conflict.
Dozens have reportedly died
in the city of Donetsk in fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the
Ukrainian military over the last two days. In addition to the fighting,
buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including now the city's hockey arena.
Earlier Tuesday, Druzhba
Arena, home of the KHL's HC Donbass, was burned and robbed by armed men. The
hockey club is calling the offenders “terrorists.” Here is some footage of the
burning building after fire fighters arrived to control the blaze (via SBNation.com):
According to Donbass officials in a statement, aside from the fire, which
caused great damage, but not enough to destroy the building, the armed men
believed to be pro-Russian separatists tied up a security guard and stole many
items from the arena including televisions, communication equipment and
safe-deposit boxes.
No one was hurt in the incident according to the team.
HC Donbass has called the arena home since 2011. They are the
only KHL team in Ukraine and the roster includes former NHLer Ruslan Fedotenko,
who is the team's captain.
In the team's statement about the fire, they denounced the group
known as Donetsk People's Republic (Translation via Google Translate):
"Fans of the club and the entire hockey community deeply
angered by what had happened, and call those people who still sympathize with
the so-called DNR bandits terrorizing East Ukraine, think: Is this
"future" they want for themselves and their children."