Before Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, the Shakhtar Donetsk club mainly cared about winning matches and trophies, but a year ago it expanded its horizons far beyond the football field: it covers the costs of treating wounded soldiers and finds new homes for war orphans, reports AFP.

The club, winners of the UEFA Cup in 2009 when the team was coached by Mircea Lucescu and included Rezvan Ratz, is funding the hospitalization of five seriously wounded soldiers in Israel, the US and Spain through its Shakhtar Social Foundation. Spending 100,000 euros per soldier.

“You have no idea the severity of their injuries. Two were paralyzed, and others suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of the explosion. It is very difficult to control emotions when you see them. We want to give them a chance for a normal life. Their families cannot cover hospital expenses, and the state does not have the ability to provide the necessary assistance, so we take care of them,” explained club president Serhii Palkin.

And children suffer a lot because of the war. Many remained orphans or were forcibly deported to Russia. “We took care of 31 children who lost their parents due to the conflict. We placed them in 17 houses,” said Palkin.

“We cover their daily expenses and treatment, we give them iPads and try to make things as normal as possible mentally because these children have been traumatized by the loss of their parents,” he added.

Ukrainian player Yan Petryak, registered in Shakhtar, knows what it means to lose a loved one: his father-in-law died in a battle in Donbas in May 2022.

“The guys who were with him saw how he died,” says the football player. “For our family, this is the most difficult situation because we can’t find his body and we can’t bury him to say goodbye. We have no information about him.”

“Shaktor” has not played in Donetsk since 2014, when the armed conflict in Donbas began. They are now playing their first matches in Lviv after leaving Kyiv last year.

The club also takes care of more than 2,000 refugees from eastern Ukraine, noted Serhiy Palkin.

As for the future, Petryak does not see himself playing against Russian teams. “They’re like zombies,” he says of Russian athletes who support Vladimir Putin.

The footballer is shocked by the attitude of IOC President Thomas Bach, who encouraged the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes into competitions in the run-up to the Olympic Games.

“More than 200 athletes died, and he wants Russia and Belarus to be able to participate in the Olympics? How is that possible? This is unthinkable. For me, it’s a bit of a circus,” the football player said.

The 29-year-old defender is proud that, despite the departure of several foreign players from the team since the start of the war, Shakhtar have still managed to finish third in the Champions League group in which he played and come out in last place. eight European leagues.

“The better we play, the more money we can send to the army and other athletes. We are like a big family,” he concluded.