Ukrainian Championship resumed despite the ongoing war in the country. Matches are played in its central and western provinces. Ukrainianaway from the front line with the Russians, in front of empty platforms and with bombing sirens intermittently interrupting clashes.

For the champion Miner but things are somewhat different, as his point of view Champions League he maintains something of the splendor of the past in the Donetsk club, urging foreign players to return or come to Ukraine for the first time.

During the February 2022 invasion Lacina Traore was on vacation due to the winter break in the championship of Ukraine. While Shakhtar’s other legionnaires left, he decided to return to the club a few months ago, although he had other offers as well. As he explained, “In my culture, when someone offers you something, you should also offer it to them. It’s time for me to repay the love they gave me.”

Shakhtar have been in exile for many years, now it is another refugee club. It was “displaced”. 2014 when pro-Russian forces cut off Donetsk from the rest of the country and controlled Kyiv. After a period of Lvivclose to the Polish border, Shakhtar are currently training in Kyiv.

“We have no money, our income from Ukraine is zero,” says the chief executive of Orange. Sergey Palkin. How much income does the club receive from Champions League. That’s why the return of Traore, the player who was worth 10 million eurospleasantly surprised.

And he is no longer the only foreigner who dares to wear orange and black. Except from Lucas Taylorplaying for PAOK, 18-year-old striker Kevin Kelsey, from Venezuela could go to many other European countries. But he signed a five-year contract with Shakhtar, saying: “I try not to think about the war.”

His team is leading the league and will probably give him a chance to play in the next Champions League.

Source: New York Times.