Thirteen players from Ukraine's national team produced a video on Thursday ahead of their appearance at Euro 2024, featuring images of wartime destruction and hardship in their hometowns, 27 months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia.
“Our cities would love to host the Euro Cup. Right now, they are not fighting for a tournament, but for their freedom,” is the message that appears on the screen during the 90-second video posted on the Telegram messaging application.
The video shows houses reduced to rubble, buildings burned or blackened by airstrikes and emergency teams cautiously picking their way through piles of rubble.
“My name is Mykola Shaparenko and I am from Velyka Novosilka, which has been completely destroyed by the Russians,” said the Dynamo Kiev player, referring to his hometown practically on part of the 1,000 kilometer front line that runs through the east. and southern Ukraine.
Maksym Talovierov and Anatoliy Trubin present themselves as natives of Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine held by Russian forces or their local proxies since 2014, when separatists seized much of the east.
“Right now, Makiivka, Saky and Donetsk are temporarily occupied,” says Trubin, referring to the hometowns of four players.
“Our cities would love to host the Euro, but they fight for freedom!”
13 players from the Ukrainian national team are heading to the world before the EURO. Their hometowns have been affected by Russian aggression: they are damaged or temporarily occupied. pic.twitter.com/TjhsR6h7OS
— Ukrainian Football Association (@uafukraine) June 13, 2024
Oleksandr Zinchenko introduces himself as a London Arsenal player and identifies his hometown as Radomyshl, west of the capital, kyiv, against a backdrop of explosions and burning buildings.
Zinchenko was on the Ukraine team that reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship three years ago. That was the last European summer before the Russian attack.
This tournament is “100%” different and special, Zinchenko told reporters before the tournament.
“There are still people dying for no reason and we have to stay united,” he said, stressing that what the players have experienced does not compare to what the combatants on the front and their families are experiencing.
“For them it is very difficult, for us it is obviously an extra motivation. We all know who is behind us. We need to show our best performance.”
Several Ukrainian cities, including Donetsk, co-sponsored Euro 2012 along with neighboring Poland.
The Ukrainian national team opens its Euro 2024 campaign on Monday against Romania, another western neighbor.
But war is an issue the Ukrainian team wants to address, and they hope Euro 2024 seen around the world will help put it center stage.
“We need to talk about this,” coach Serhiy Rebrov said. “I know some people are tired of the news of war, but we are still fighting and we need your support.”
“It is very important that Ukraine is represented at the Euro because we, all Ukrainians, want to be in [the] European family,” said the former national team star, who also played in England and Russia, and trained in Hungary. “In the war we fought all over Europe.”
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
