Lisa Kjær Gjessing spearheaded the fundraising event for Ukrainian taekwondo players ©Getty Images

Paralympic champion Lisa Kjær Gjessing and other Danish athletes staged a "Taekwondo for Peace" event to show their support for Ukrainian counterparts following the Russian invasion.

Dozens of participants arrived at the Aarhus’ Ceres Arena for a training session where they were able to win a range of prizes, such as a taekwondo equipment, a duvet and pillow set from Jysk and a bottle of whisky.

Ukraine’s six-time world champion Vika Marchuk, in the process of fleeing his home country, joined the event via a phone call to address those attending.

The event resulted in at least DKK21,870 (£2,460/Є2,940/$3,200) being raised for Ukrainian taekwondo players affected by the war.

Gjessing won the women's K44 under-58-kilogram title last year when taekwondo made its Paralympic debut.

The Danish Government has said it is planning to house fleeing Ukrainians in "Ukraine towns" to ensure the substantial number of refugees can be accommodated and made to feel at home.

"We are preparing for Ukrainians to be accommodated in some form of Ukraine towns, where there could be child care and education for children in Ukrainian, in which the Ukrainians themselves could participate," Mattias Tesfaye, the Minister for Immigration and Integration, told Danish newspaper Berlingske.

According to the United Nations (UN), more than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes because of the invasion, with 4.3 million leaving for neighbouring countries.

Poland has experienced the highest intake of Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched a full-scale attack on February 24, with more than 2.5 million entering the country.

The UN has recorded 1,766 civilian deaths since February 24, but fears the actual figure is considerably higher.

Yesterday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Russia had a committed "monstrous" war crime by launching a missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station, where five children were among at least 50 people who died.

This follows accusations from Ukraine and Poland that Russia is committing genocide by killing civilians.

Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials have been banned by World Taekwondo from all of its competitions.

Belarus is assisting the military operation.