It will soon be a year since Ukraine has been at war despite itself against Russia and, by extension, almost a year since Shakhtar Donetsk, which faces Stade Rennais this Thursday in Warsaw in the 16th final of the Europa League, is trying to somehow live out his routine as a professional football club in exile. Based in Lviv since the Russian troops took possession of the Donbass, it moved to Poland when the time came to play in the European Cup. And while the soldiers fight daily to repel the Russian assaults, Shakhtar does what it can to contribute to the war effort, hoping one day to be able to find its home and its stadium, partly destroyed under Russian fire at the start of the conflict.
As such, the president and owner of the club, the Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, announced on the occasion of the sale of Mikhaïlo Mudryk to Chelsea (for 70 million euros) the payment of 25 million euros to come in aid to the soldiers who were defending Mariupol, within the framework of a project baptized “Heart of Azovstal”, named after the metallurgical plant which he owns and which sheltered for months the last Ukrainian fighters who defended the city against the Russian troops, before it fell after months of siege.
However, it is appropriate here to correct information relayed in many media in recent weeks: it is not directly the money from Mudryk’s transfer that has been used to finance this project but rather that coming from the personal fortune of Rinat Akhmetov ( estimated at 6.4 billion euros according to Bloomerg, 334th world fortune), who has also spent more than 100 million euros since the start of the war to support his country in various ways.
In a press release published in January, he explained that he had “decided to launch this project to help the defenders of Mariupol and the families of fallen soldiers. It is thanks to them, their sacrifice and their courage to contain the enemy in the first months of the war that today we all feel the inevitability of victory for Ukraine”. This money must be used to help financially and logistically the soldiers and their families. They will address various needs – from medical treatment, to psychological assistance, to the implementation of targeted requests.
“People need to know what’s going on with us”
If the story was beautiful – a club formerly owned by a Russian oligarch close to Putin who indirectly finances the war led by Ukraine – the fact remains that Shakhtar is totally involved on a daily basis in the fight against Russian invader. “Since the start of the war we have acted in three ways, explains Sergei Palkin, the general manager of the club. We play football to bring some happiness to our people, we play charity matches to raise funds, we carry out humanitarian campaigns and we try to alert world public opinion to the atrocities committed by Russia against our people. »
After the shutdown of the Ukrainian championship following the Russian invasion, Shakhtar, for example, set up the “Global Peace Tour”, a European tour charity games to raise funds. From Rome to Amsterdam via Istanbul, Split or Athens, the club played eight games in total and raised more than one million euros which was used for “various humanitarian needs in Ukraine”, according to Palkin.
“It wasn’t just about money, it was also and above all a way to send messages to Europe, to speak to the media and explain to them the reality of what was happening in our country, underlines Yuri Zviridov, the head of the communication service of the Moles, the nickname of Shakhtar. We have taken this role to heart. People need to know what’s going on with us even today, even if I understand that over time the subject can take a back seat. People get tired of hearing about this, but please don’t get tired. If we lose, Europe loses, because we are not just defending our country, we are fighting for the idea we have of democracy in Europe. »
Shakhtar’s humanitarian projects
Back in the country to prepare for the new football season, the club has continued to support various projects, most of them humanitarian. Thus, it manages the Shelter Center located next to the Lviv stadium, where the team has taken up residence, a kind of refugee camp which hosts nearly 200 people who lost their homes under the Russian bombs. “We also took care of five Ukrainian soldiers injured during the war by organizing their transfer to various foreign hospitals (in the United States, Israel, Spain) and by financing 100% of their medical treatment and rehabilitation”, details Zviridov. .
The club also financially supports the destiny of 30 war orphans, from their accommodation to their education. Finally, continues Zviridov, “we launched a fundraising campaign to buy generators. So far we have collected 120 generators. Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Celtic, Legia Warsaw, Feyenoord and Benfica Lisbon are among the clubs that have backed the initiative. There is also the club of Lille, in France, and his trainer Da Fonsecawho gave us money and we thank them”.
In full preparation for the match against Rennes, Neven Djurasec, 24, says he is “proud of what the club is doing to support the Ukrainian people and their fighters”. Arrived last summer, like many other players, to remedy the massive departure of the colony of Brazilians who made up a large part of Shakhtar’s workforce, this modest Croatian midfielder first saw the interest of the Shakhtar as an opportunity “that doesn’t come every four mornings”. Today, he is aware of having made more than a simple career choice. He plays for a people, a nation.
Even if we don’t talk about the war between us, or not much, the coach and the staff remind us of the privilege that is ours to play football when others fight and give their lives for their country to a few dozen or hundreds of kilometers away, he explains. We know how much the Ukrainian people are suffering and our duty is to give them a bit of respite and joy during a match, but also to give them hope, to show that we can accomplish great things when ‘we are together. »
“We showed what we were capable of”
Given the context, with a team cut off from its best foreign players and today made up of 95% young Ukrainians, it is nothing to say that Shakhtar is a credit to its supporters. Second in the championship, the Minors, as they are nicknamed, managed the feat of finishing third in their group of the Champions League and qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League. In C1, in a packed Warsaw stadium, supported by thousands of Ukrainian supporters in exile, they managed the feat of looking Real Madrid in the eye (1-1). A little earlier, they had even gone to stick a historic rouste at RB Leipzig (4-1) on their land.
“What we did in the Champions League group stage was a miracle,” admits Sergei Palkin. A miracle stamped with the seal of solidarity and team spirit. Neven Djurasec: “We have all been living together in hotels in Lviv or Warsaw for months. It’s not an easy way of life, especially since we are far from our loved ones, but we adapted and today we are like a family. The atmosphere is really special. We feel that there is something strong in this group, something that touches on patriotism. The bonds are incredibly strong between us and I think it was this camaraderie that allowed us to obtain such good results during the first part of the season. »
“This group is incredibly united, confirms Zvirinov. We have to give everything for those who defend the country, it is thanks to them that we have the chance to live a more or less normal life, it is also for this that our players are grateful and give 100 % in the field. No one expected such results, not even us. But it proves that nothing is impossible. We can see a parallel with the war, everyone thought that Russia would win in no time and that Ukraine had no chance, but the reality is very different”. If he is aware that the double confrontation against Rennes, which he qualifies for his team as a “Champions League final”, promises to be complicated, Neven Djurasec believes in their luck. “We have already shown what we are capable of and I think we can repeat the feat”, he announces. The Bretons have been warned.