Photos show Ukraine’s historic center in ruins but children, athletes still train ahead of Olympics
Biathlete Khrystyna Dmytrenko poses for photos inside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s historic Chernihiv biathlon and cross-country training center, which produced the country’s first Olympic medalist, remains in ruins after Russia’s 2022 invasion. Despite bombed-out buildings and constant air-raid threats, children and Olympic hopefuls continue to train on its damaged ski tracks.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, warm up before a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, warm up before a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Retired biathlete and deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Nina Lemesh poses for photos outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Retired biathlete and deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Nina Lemesh poses for photos outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A steel shooting target is peppered with gunshot holes at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A steel shooting target is peppered with gunshot holes at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A 2001 Biathlon World Championships brochure lays in the rubble of the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A 2001 Biathlon World Championships brochure lays in the rubble of the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlete Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, runs during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlete Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, runs during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, walk through a dark hallway during a blackout at their mobile gym outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, walk through a dark hallway during a blackout at their mobile gym outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlon coach Mykola Vorchak, 60, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathlon coach Mykola Vorchak, 60, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the Chernihiv, Ukraine ski base, which was destroyed following Russian attacks in 2022, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, run during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Biathletes Yekateryna Mashtalier, 18, Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, Maksym Kravchenko, 17, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, run during a training session at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A cross memorialises Ukrainian defenders outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A cross memorialises Ukrainian defenders outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
