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UKRAINIAN amputee soldiers are returning to the front line to fight the Russians.

According to figures revealed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, his country has 380,000 wounded personnel, with many brigades having at least one amputee back on active duty.

AP

Courageous soldier Leonid Lobchuk lost his right leg in 2015[/caption]

He added that 46,000 have been killed over the three-year course of the war against Russia, with tens of thousands missing.

Intelligence soldier Andrii Rubliuk, 38, lost both arms and a leg when he was struck by an explosive.

He now uses prosthetic limbs and vowed to return to the front line.

He said: “Fighting with arms and legs is something anyone can do. Fighting without them — that’s a challenge.”

Leonid Lobchuk, a soldier with Ukraine’s 127th brigade, lost his leg during a border conflict in 2015.

But he remains undeterred, smiling for a photo in front of a howitzer in the Kharkiv region earlier this month.

Maksym Vysotskyi, 42, lost his left leg when stepping on a landmine after a drone mission in November 2023.

By the following May, he was back in uniform.

He said: “I quickly accepted the fact that my leg was gone. What’s the point of mourning?

“Crying and worrying won’t bring it back.”

Maksym now commands a team operating explosives-laden drones on night-time missions.

Oleksandr Zhalinskyi, 34, lost his right arm when he was an infantry soldier and is now a navigator-driver.

He said: “At first, I did not like this job. When I returned to service, I was ready to go back to the infantry.”

He plans to open a pub after the war — called Amputated Conscience.

Last month Ukraine held its first amputee football tournament, with teams made up of soldiers who have lost limbs in the conflict.

A CARJACKING victim last night blasted his attackers for trying to recreate scenes from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

Lucas Story, 72, has had to use crutches since he was dragged from his van and beaten unconscious by two thugs after he refused to give them a lift.

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Reuters

Callum Ross, 19, and Matthew Bell, 24, were caged for four and a half years each over the horror incident in Inverness.

But the injuries and trauma Lucas suffered forced him to close his chocolate shop business in the Highland city.

The grandad said: “My life is not a video game — but that is how they treated it.

“They see a car and think they can take it, like they do when they’re playing GTA.

“They think a human being is just something in their way to get rid of.

“I blame the video games because they don’t realise what happens in the real world.”

My life is not a video game — but that is how they treated it… They think a human being is just something in their way to get rid of

The master chocolatier Lucas sold handmade treats after moving north with his wife Ingrid, 74, more than 20 years ago.

He was driving to his shop in December 2023 when he declined Ross and Bell a lift because his Peugeot Bipper was packed with sweets for the busy festive period.

One thug hurled a can of beer at the van. But when Lucas checked the damage, they pounced.

The yobs knocked him out and broke his leg.

But he still managed to jump on the bonnet in a bid to stop them fleeing.

He said: “One tried to run over me but he couldn’t get it to reverse.”

Lucas was in the city’s Raigmore Hospital for six weeks.

Every time I try to take a step, I’m reminded of the attack. I still have nightmares about it all.. I have to live with what they did to me

He said: “Every time I try to take a step, I’m reminded of the attack. I still have nightmares about it all.”

At Inverness Sheriff Court, the thugs admitted assault to severe injury, danger of life and permanent disfigurement.

Bell blamed substance abuse while Ross claimed mental health issues.

But Lucas said: “This is no one’s fault but theirs. I hope they learn and try to change their lives.

“Nothing will change for me. I have to live with what they did to me.”

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Lucas Story still has nightmares about the attack[/caption]

Former Colorado football quarterback Shedeur Sanders has unveiled his plans for the NFL Combine, via Ian Rapoport. Sanders plans to focus on his interviews with teams at the combine to help them continue to learn about him as a person, and he plans to throw later in the offseason at his Pro Day with Colorado […]

The post Colorado football’s Shedeur Sanders unveils NFL Combine plan appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Revenge isn’t always instant. Sometimes, it simmers, waiting for the right moment. For the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the New York Knicks, the moment was just right. On national television, under the bright lights of the newly named Rocket Arena, the Cavs obliterated the Knicks, 142-105. However, for Cleveland, it wasn’t just another late February […]

The post Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell gives Knicks their flowers despite playoff rivalry appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Lincoln Riley continues to work on righting the ship at USC, landing the Trojans another major football recruit for the class of 2026. After a brief deliberation period, USC received a commitment from four-star edge rusher Simote Katoanga, On3 Sports reported. Katoanga, a consensus top-100 recruit, is the sixth-best defensive lineman of the class, according […]

The post USC football lands 4-star edge over Notre Dame, Clemson, North Carolina appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Boston Red Sox got their first look at their prized free agent signing, Alex Bregman, when he made his spring training debut for the team on Sunday. And it’s safe to say that the results did not disappoint, as Bregman launched a home run in his second at bat of the game, sending fans […]

The post Alex Bregman fires up fans with home run in Red Sox spring training debut appeared first on ClutchPoints.

For what seems like the entire season, college basketball fans have been waiting for UConn to start clicking. The back-to-back national champions have struggled all season long after losing much of their roster from the last two years, and those hard times continued on Sunday with a blowout 89-75 loss to No. 10 St. John’s […]

The post UConn’s Dan Hurley makes ‘championship level’ admission about St. John’s appeared first on ClutchPoints.

PHILIPPE CLEMENT has been SACKED as manager of Rangers.

Ibrox chiefs have finally decided enough is enough with Clement dismissed just 16 months after taking charge.

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Clement has been dismissed by Rangers[/caption]

Willie Vass

Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart (left) and chairman Fraser Thornton (right) watching on in Motherwell[/caption]

Willie Vass

Alex Rae was Clement’s first-team coach with previous No2 Andries Ulderink (centre) drafted in as assistant manager in the summer[/caption]

SunSport exclusively revealed late on Sunday afternoon that Clement was set for the Ibrox sack.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to St Mirren proved the final straw and the club have now confirmed the manager’s exit.

Clement replaced Michael Beale as Rangers manager in October 2023 and won the League Cup less than two months into his tenure.

The former Monaco boss also led Rangers into an unexpected title challenge, but it was a challenge that ultimately fell apart towards the end of the season.

The Gers would eventually finish eight points behind champions Celtic.

There has barely been a hint of a title challenge this season, with Rangers’ campaign all but over by February.

The Light Blues trail rivals Celtic by THIRTEEN points and also lost the League Cup Final to the Hoops back in December.

Dire form either side of a 3-0 league win over Celtic in early January led to major fan protests, with supporters WALKING OUT during the match with St Johnstone.

Despite fans demanding change, new Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart publicly BLACKED Clement last month.

An upturn in form bought Clement some much-needed credit.

Rangers were on a run of five domestic games unbeaten when Queen’s Park visited Ibrox on February 9.

However, Clement’s side would lose 1-0 to their Championship opponents in a result viewed as one of the worst in the club’s history.

A video surfaced online showing Clement walking a gauntlet of some furious abuse as he left Ibrox following the humiliating loss.

He would, however, keep his job.

Speaking last week, Gers CEO Stewart branded that result ‘a source of shame’ but still insisted it was still wasn’t the right decision NOT so sack Clement.

Those comments came before the dramatic developments regarding the financial muscle of NFL giants San Francisco 49ers closing in on a stunning takeover of Rangers came to light.

The weekend would prove another horror show with Rangers, one that Clement branded the WORST performance since he took charge.

The Gers fell to a 2-0 home defeat against St Mirren, the first time the Buddies had won at Ibrox since 1991.

It was also the Saints’ first time recording back-to-back wins over the Light Blues for more than FORTY years.

And despite the words of the chief executive last week, Gers chiefs have decided they can no longer back Clement as boss.

The 50-year old has been axed just six months after signing a contract extension until 2028.

Rangers’ form in Europe has been good, with a last 16 Europa League tie with Fenerbahce on the horizon.

CEO Stewart had claimed the Light Blues’ excellent showing on the continent meant it was too much of a RISK to dismiss Clement.

But even that European performance hasn’t ultimately been enough to save him.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page

MOST parents would recoil in horror at the thought of their son parading totally starkers on a global hit telly show.

But Patrick Schwarzenegger’s dad, Hollywood A-lister Arnie, has been there and done the very same himself.

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Patrick Schwarzenegger is following in the footsteps of his famous father[/caption]

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Arnie with Patrick at this month’s White Lotus LA screening[/caption]

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Patrick flashes flesh in White Lotus season 3[/caption]

Arnie, 77, says of his actor son: “I could claim to be surprised he has a nude scene.

“But the apple doesn’t seem to fall far from the tree.”

In 1991 movie Terminator 2, former bodybuilding champ Arnie is seen walking naked into a rough bar and telling a biker: “I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.”

Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, his hunky 31-year-old son is the instant standout star of the third season of HBO comedy drama The White Lotus.

Patrick usually works out at least five times a week but had no time to train before his latest role as Saxon Ratliff because he was busy filming 2024 flick Billy Knight.

So he worked on his physique while filming in Thailand, often starting at 4am.

Patrick says: “If you look at episode one and episode three, side by side, I gained a lot of muscle and size.”

Director Mike White was horrified and told him to cut the weights.

Patrick recalls: “Mike was, like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to stop lifting. You’re getting too big. The continuity doesn’t work’.”

The first series of the show, named for the fictional luxury hotel chain it often brings to hilarious life, gave new legs to veteran American actress Jennifer Coolidge’s career.

Series two, set in Sicily, catapulted Brit actor Leo Woodall to stardom, ahead of his roles in Netflix hit One Day last year, and now Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.

Now, the White Lotus of series three is a wellness centre in Thailand where Patrick plays randy hotel guest Saxon.

He travels from America’s Deep South to Thailand with his family — dodgy businessman dad Tim, prescription drug addict mum Victoria, wimp brother Lochlan, and sister Piper, who wants to become a Buddhist.

And episode two, which screens tonight, may reveal more about Saxon’s incestuous intentions toward his brother and sister.

Patrick says of his character: “Saxon is a douche who leads with his penis. He is despicable and outrageous.”

But after just one episode, fans have already decided Saxon is the bad boy they all love.

Patrick, though, reveals he was not told, at first, how often he would have to get his kit off.

He says: “You do the auditions but don’t see the full script so you don’t have all the details — then when you sign on they ask, ‘Are you comfortable with nudity?’

“At the end of the day, this character, from start to finish, is ridiculous and the type of person who absolutely would walk around his room naked without a care in the world.

“He’s the guy who, whenever he sees a girl at the pool, he’s going to flirt with them, whether it’s a mom or a 22-year-old.”

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Patrick and his mum, Kennedy family member, Maria Shriver at the LA premiere of White Lotus season three[/caption]

Now engaged to be married to a model, Patrick is the son of former California Governor Arnie and his ex-wife Maria Shriver — a relative of American politics’ Kennedy clan.

Despite the break-up of his parents’ marriage after Arnie admitted fathering a child with the family’s house-maid, Patrick is close to his dad.

They often train together in the gym.

Patrick may not have been a star for long, given his famous dad, but he has been making headlines since briefly dating pop star Miley Cyrus in 2014 and 2015.

Miley ended the relationship because of their conflicting schedules.

It was also rumoured that Taylor Swift, while briefly dating Conor Kennedy in 2012, cheated on him with Patrick, who — through his mum Maria’s connection to the Kennedys — is a cousin of Conor.

Patrick is one of four children from Arnie’s marriage to TV broadcaster Shriver, the niece of ex-US President John F. Kennedy.

His older sister Katherine, a writer, is married to Hollywood star Chris Pratt and his other sister, Christina, worked for Gwyneth Paltrow’s online retail store Gloop.

Although he is Arnie’s son, Patrick started at the bottom in acting and has worked his way up from bit-part comedy roles such as Jock Kid in 2006 film Benchwarmers and Frat Boy in Grown Ups 2 in 2013.

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Patrick with model girlfriend Abby Champion[/caption]

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Patrick previously dated singer Miley Cyrus[/caption]

Despite his father being worth more than £400MILLION, while waiting for movie parts and to fund his acting classes Patrick opened his own pizza restaurant in LA — although he sold it recently to concentrate on acting.

In 2022, he played Colin Firth’s party-loving screen son in HBO drama series The Staircase, the real-life story of crime writer Tom Peterson who was accused of killing his wife.

The same year, in Amazon Prime conspiracy thriller The Terminal List, he played a Navy Seal alongside his A-lister brother-in-law Chris Pratt.

But his big break came in 2023 when The White Lotus creator and director Mike White asked him to audition as Saxon for series three.

Patrick says: “I’ve been a massive fan of the show since day one. It was my dream goal.

“It was funny because every time we would watch it, my family would always just say: ‘Why didn’t you audition for this show? Why aren’t you in this? This role would’ve been perfect for you.’

“Finally, when I got the audition, it was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to nail this, I got to get this’.”

The week before it was confirmed he had won the part, he had proposed to his long-time girlfriend, model Abby Champion — and she had said yes.

But then he had to tell her he was off to Thailand for filming.

Patrick says: “I was, like, ‘Eek, sorry — I’m going to be gone for the next seven months, so we’re going to have to push the wedding to next year.”

‘SUPPORTIVE MUM’

But he adds: “It went over great. She’s super-supportive of my work and career, as I am towards her career.”

Patrick was under strict orders to keep the news that he had won the role top-secret.

But his parents — who split up in 2011 after Maria watched her housemaid’s son, Joseph Baena, grow to be the double of her husband — found out by accident.

Patrick and Abby did keep his major screen break under wraps until Maria accused them of “acting weird” at a family gathering.

He says: “They thought Abby was pregnant and they just kept hounding me, hounding me, hounding me.

“I didn’t even tell my dad because I didn’t want him to tell some other person in the industry.

“But his mother, who is a massive White Lotus fan, screamed with joy at the news, and later she travelled to Thailand to visit the show’s set on the island of Ko Samui.

During filming, Patrick became pals with his screen mum Parker Posey and TV dad Jason Isaacs.

He says: “Jason is this ball of energy that cannot sleep and cannot not move.

“It’ll be 2am and he’ll text me, ‘Do you want to play tennis?’

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Patrick hugging Taylor Swift who dated his cousin Connor Kennedy[/caption]

HBO

Leo Woodall in White Lotus season two[/caption]

“I’ll see him in the morning and say, ‘Dude, what is wrong with you? I was sleeping.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t sleep.’ It’s insane.”

Patrick also spent a lot of time with his screen sister Sarah ­Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola who plays his brother Lochlan.

Patrick says: “We hung out as a family so much that [director] Mike came to us three weeks in and he said, ‘You don’t need to hang out just as a family the whole time’.”

Patrick’s proud dad Arnie and mum Maria were on the red carpet for the show’s LA premiere.

Patrick says: “There are people who’ll say I only got this role because of who my dad is.

“They’re not seeing that I’ve had ten years of acting classes, worked on my characters for hours on end — or the hundreds of rejected auditions I’ve been on.

“Of course, it’s frustrating and you can get boxed in and you think at that moment, ‘I wish I didn’t have my last name’.

“But that’s a small moment. I would never trade my life with anyone.

“I’m very fortunate to have the life and family that I have, the parents I have and the lessons and values they’ve instilled in me.”

•  The White Lotus series three is on Mondays on Sky Altantic, and streaming service Now.

IF you’re going to challenge Jose Mourinho to a pee-the-highest contest over how to win trophies, better have a right good pair of waterproof trousers handy.

But if your team then goes out and gives a performance as p***-poor as Philippe Clement’s did yet again on Saturday?

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A 2-0 defeat to St Mirren at Ibrox meant Philippe Clement’s time was up[/caption]

Reuters

But not before starting a bizarre spat with Jose Mourinho[/caption]

Sorry, monsieur, an all-over tarpaulin won’t protect you from what’s coming next.

Because no matter how much the Rangers board have tried to avoid the moment, it really IS time to Rinse & Repeat.

The day in January new CEO Patrick Stewart harnessed himself to the Belgian waffler by saying that sacking managers hadn’t worked in the past, I wrote that he might as well have hooked a great big ball and chain round his ankle.

When he then came out a few days back and, in the same breath as describing their Scottish Cup defeat to Queen’s Park as “disastrous”, doubled-down on his sort-of support for a managerial dead duck, that ball became the size of the one that chased Indiana Jones.

And now, here they are, less than 48 hours on from losing their first home game after that humiliation and it looks like Stewart’s support was all just so much hot air.

If, as our back page predicts, Clement’s finally a goner then Rangers will at once have done the right thing, but at the same time will look weak and indecisive – because what they’re ready to do today could have been done before Ne’erday and might still have given them a chance of winning a trophy.

Binning him off the back of those festive debacles away to St Mirren and Motherwell, as I wrote at the time they should have, wouldn’t have changed the job those consultants have to do; plus, it might also have brought enough stability on the park to keep the selling price up for if and when the 49ers deal gets done, rather than their market value dropping by the day.

Instead, though, hanging on to a guy who anyone could see was finished only served to make things worse, partly through results but also thanks to a waterfall of press conference drivel that proved beyond doubt he really DOESN’T get the environment he’s working in or the demands made of him.

I mean, how deluded do you need to be to go from trying to justify defeat to a mid-table Championship side on the basis of how bad your strikers were to suddenly deciding you have a right to diss one of the greatest coaches of all time?

What goes through his head?

He’s been asked a thousand different ways about whether his own jacket’s on a shoogly peg and has found a thousand different ways not to give an honest answer.

Try to wheedle a nugget out of him about the impending takeover and he goes more neutral than Switzerland.

Ask for his thoughts on Jose, though?

A guy who’s won two Champions Leagues, three English Premier Leagues, two Serie As, one La Liga, two Portuguese leagues, an FA Cup, four English League Cups, a UEFA Cup, a Europa League, a Europa Conference League, an Italian Cup, a Spanish Cup, an Italian Super Cup, a Spanish Super Cup, a Portuguese Cup, a Portuguese Super Cup and two English Community Shields?

A man-management genius whose achievements across the past 22 years have seen him named World Coach Of The Year with four different clubs?

And suddenly, he’s ALL opinions.

“Mourinho? Not my cup of tea. I like attacking football, his is boring; that yawn-inducing habit he has of getting his teams to score more than the opposition.”

Philippe Clement on Jose Mourinho

Seriously, someone should have wheeled him out of the media room there and then, still in his chair, because it was a statement as embarrassing as it was bound to come back and bite him on the backside; which, of course, it did within 24 hours.

Not that it matters now, of course, seeing as it seems he won’t have to look Mourinho in the eye come the Fenerbahce tie; pity, because it would have been fun to see him explain why he prefers HIS teams to have 28 shots in one home game, then 17 in the next, get fewer than half of them on target, score hee-haw and be bullied into defeat on the break both times.

If Mourinho bothered to read those comments, he’ll have laughed at them as much as the rest of us – yes, maybe even Rangers fans, who must be at the stage where if they don’t find some black humour in the state of their team, they’ll cry until all that’s left are lots of little piles of salt on tens of thousands of empty plastic seats.

Probably the most damning thing that can be said about that 2-0 loss to St Mirren, who hadn’t won at Ibrox since 1991 and hadn’t beaten Rangers back-to-back since 1980, is that as much as it dismayed those fans, it didn’t shock them any more than it did you or me.

In fact, you know what?

Off the back of Celtic losing to Hibs at lunchtime, it felt almost INEVITABLE that Clement’s side would find a way to cock up even worse. Because that’s his legacy, losing a litany of games Rangers should be winning with their eyes shut. 

The one piece of silverware he led them to, the one Old Firm victory he managed, a handful of upbeat European nights? They all feel like blips in what will surely be remembered as a nightmarish reign.

So hell mend the Rangers board for sleepwalking to where they find themselves today.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page