Mariupol’s Neptune Pool, Planned Paralympic Training Base, Destroyed by Bombing

A municipal swimming pool in the besieged Ukrainian town of Mariupol was hit by a Russian military strike on Wednesday, multiple media sources have reported. CNN has confirmed the reports and location of the pool.

Civilians had taken shelter in the pool amid another day of attacks by Russia. The strategically-important port city has more than 400,000 residents in peacetime. The city has been without power or water for weeks, and several attempts to create a safe evacuation corridor have failed.

The city has been home to some of the most devastating images of the war so far, including bombing of a hospital and a theater where hundreds of people took shelter. Ukrainian officials are saying that the targeting of civilians by Russian military forces has been intentional.

While official counts have been difficult as fighting has been ongoing, an advisor to the city’s mayor said on Tuesday that up to 20,000 may have been killed there, with many more likely deaths since then.

The pool building that was bombed houses the Neptune Pool. The pool was recently under reconstruction with plans for the facility to become a training base for the country’s Paralympians. Ukraine is home to one of the most successful Paralympic teams in the world. At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Ukraine won 14 gold and 43 total medals in swimming, which ranked them 4th and 3rd, respectively, among medal-winners.

According to Maxim Kach, a local city government official, there were no military personnel at, or near, the pool.

The pool is about 2.5 miles away from the theater that was bombed.

Previous images have shown significant damage to the Ukrainian Olympic Pool in Kharkiv. Many of the country’s top aquatic athletes have been evacuated to training sites in other countries, most substantially in Italy and Hungary.

 

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American
2 years ago

Sad to see a pool destroyed. If only the west had stopped pushing NATO further east. Glad Russia isn’t stupid enough to join with mexico or canada. But why is the west so stupid to think we can do this to Ukraine?

IU Swammer
Reply to  American
2 years ago

Russia had 3 decades to convince Ukrainians that Russia is a good partner. Russia instead alienated Ukrainians and tried to control them with puppet governments. There is no treaty, agreement, or law that prohibits Mexico or Canada from aligning with Russia. Mexico and Canada don’t join with Russia because the US and Europe are better partners. Russia had the opportunity to build a similar relationship with Ukraine, but it didn’t. The idea that Russia’s invasion was provoked, instigated, or forced by NATO makes no sense.

“The West” isn’t pushing NATO East. Russia is such a shitty neighbor that countries are choosing to join NATO. If Russia doesn’t want enemies for neighbors, all it needs to do is stop treating… Read more »

Jo Si
2 years ago

An absolute war crime, 0 justification for destroying infrastructure like this

Snarky
2 years ago

Fputin

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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