Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Serghiy Palkin on the terror in his homeland of worn-torn Ukraine

On February 23, it was a normal day at home for Serghiy Palkin in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Twenty-four hours later, and it was anything but normal.

The Shakhtar CEO would wake up to the sounds of bombing and explosions, as Russian forces flooded the country.

Tens of thousands of panicking Ukrainians fled from the north, east and south as they aimed to reach safety, whilst 40 soldiers were killed on that day.

By the morning, Russia was invading by land, sea and air across the country. By sunset, Russian special forces and airborne troops had seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear site after fierce fighting and were pushing into the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media.

‘I remember waking up to the sound of bombing and explosions, and it was surreal, I could not believe what I was hearing and witnessing’, Palkin recalls.

‘In the morning, I was at home with my family, and by the evening, I was driving to the the clubs offices in Kyiv trying to organise a way of getting all the international players to safety as quickly as possible, as well as the youngsters in the youth academy away from danger.

‘I remember driving there, and seeing people in blind panic, scurrying around trying to get away, the feeling was horrible something I can’t describe, and the thoughts going through my head were, I hope all my family will be ok.’

Days later, and the process of trying to get Shakhtar’s international stars away from danger was proving to be difficult for Palkin, given Russia had seized control locally.

Palkin says all players are safe and have fled, with the academy youngsters now in Croatia

‘Football business at the time was obviously irrelevant’, the 47-year-old said.

‘The league campaign had been suspended, and I was in constant contact with our foreign players and their agents. We had to consider different scenarios for the development of events, and try to find the best solution for each player.

‘Thankfully, now, the foreign players and their families have left Ukraine and reached a places of safety.

‘The Ukrainian players are staying in different cities, mainly in the west of the country. Some of them are actively involved in helping the civilian population and the army. 

‘Others, have joined the humanitarian centre staff in Lviv. There are even some staff members who have joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defence force.’ 

The Shelter Centre at the Arena Lviv is housing people providing them with made up beds

Refugees are given their own space and chair as they aim to stay safe and free of any attacks

Staff members at the football club are helping residents of the city with supplies and food

Refugees arrive on a daily basis bringing along all their personal belongings as they flee

Deliveries arrive at the Shelter Centre in Lviv providing the people with supplies and blankets

Since the breakout of the war, Palkin has been helping out at the Humanitarian Centre which is situated at Arena Lviv.

‘The club is involved in operation of the Shelter Centre at the Arena Lviv to receive and accommodate refugees there.

‘Our club’s president Mr Rinat Akhmetov is actively helping the population with food and medications through his charitable foundation. His businesses support the army and the territorial defence forces.

‘Our staff are there the majority of the time, helping refugees and many people with supplies and beds for them to be able to sleep at night. I say sleep, but that is something which, as you can imagine, people are struggling to do at this moment.

‘Now, it is about the evacuation of our academy kids. I have been working with other employees of the club to get them out of Ukraine and, thankfully, with the help of the authorities they have managed to get to Split in Croatia.

‘They are all safe and well, and on Monday they will start training. There are 85 youth players over there between the ages of 13-17. All are in regular contact with their parents.’ 

Palkin gave his thoughts on the invasion and is hopeful peace talks between the two countries come as soon as possible.

‘Honestly, it’s unbelievable, tragic and very sad. Children being killed, the constant shelling near my home, and having to help our academy kids flee to safety, it is like something out of a horror movie.’

 ‘There were battles going on near my house, along with constant shelling, you look and think to yourself, is this really happening?

Apartment buildings in the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv continue to be targeted 

The streets and areas of the city are littered with debris from the mass destruction caused

The capital city, in part, is in a total mess, with people fleeing to safety to the west of Ukraine

‘I have visited other cities quite a few times, and most recently Mariupol and Kharkiv, all I can say is they are a catastrophe.

‘The invading army are destroying peaceful cities and the residents, killing children – these are crimes against humanity, for which everyone involved must be held accountable. 

Palkin then said he believes Ukraine can continue to hold off the Russians and win the war, but says more support is needed in their efforts to defeat Vladimir Putin’s attacks.

‘I believe that Ukraine will win this war. But we need support. Today, Ukraine is fighting not only for its own land, Ukraine is defending the whole of Europe and the free democratic world’s values. If we don’t stop this war together, tomorrow it will take place in Central Europe.

‘We have no other choice but to hope the war will end. All wars end through negotiations sooner or later, and I hope Russia’s war against Ukraine will also end as soon as possible.’ 

‘People are aware of the support from outside the country, and we can’t thank everyone enough.

‘Ukrainians have demonstrated to the whole world that they are ready to defend their independence, but it will be difficult to cope without any external help with the aggressor country having an order of magnitude, and more resources.

 Palkin remains hopeful the war will end very soon and will only look to the future afterwards

‘Therefore, the whole world must unite, and continue the pressure without stopping, until this war is over. This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, this is Russia’s war against humanity and against the entire civilised world whose core values are democracy, freedom, respect for human dignity, and human rights.’ 

Palkin finally said he will only look to the future once the war has come to an end.

‘We will be thinking and talking about the future the day after the war ends. At the moment, we’ve got absolutely different priorities and goals – they are aimed at our victory and we will put our all into winning.

‘In this case, I’d like to quote the club president Mr Akhmetov who says that we are confident Ukraine will win this war, that we will rebuild the country. he’s ready to invest all his efforts and means so that Ukraine recovers and becomes a strong and prosperous country once again.

‘I share the president’s viewpoint and I’m sure that Ukraine will emerge from this war as a strong and united nation, thereby strengthening the integrity of Europe and being its reliable ally in the field of security and further development.’