Shakhtar Donetsk fund surgery for injured soldiers and find families for orphans
At the fugitive football club trapped in a war zone, the relief effort is off the scale, absolutely staggering.
Forced to flee their own Donbass Arena on the front line and play home games 450 miles away in Kyiv – not to mention Champions League 'home' games exiled in Poland – Shakhtar Donetsk have become angels of mercy in battle-scarred Ukraine.
In an astonishing and wide-ranging humanitarian response to the ravages of pariah Vladimir Putin's senseless war, players have committed part of their wages towards funding major surgery abroad for seriously-injured troops.
In addition, Shakhtar has effectively become an aid agency, finding new families for children orphaned by the conflict, and shelter for those made homeless in towns and cities laid to waste by Putin's war.
It is even rumoured that a portion of the squad's wages has even been donated to help to buy drones. Chief executive Sergey Palkin put the club's relief operation in perspective, saying: “Right now, football in Ukraine is not about winning or losing matches – it is a vehicle for the healing process in a war.”
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When Putin's army invaded sovereign territory last year, Shakhtar Donetsk was the club where they battened down the hatches and went to war.
Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna (centre) with two fans from the Ukraine military
Ukrainian soldier Roman Grigoryan, fitted with prosthetic arm and leg in the US through Shakhtar fundingWhen you're cracking open your Easter eggs, or giving up chocolate for Lent, remember the bloodshed on Europe's doorstep and be thankful for the 13-times Ukrainian Premier League champions' response.
Palkin said: “When the bombs started falling on our country, we opened a shelter for 2,000 refugees and provided them with clothes, food, water and medicine – and we continue that operation now.
“Since the war began, we have found 31 children who lost their parents new homes with 17 families - that's 31 orphans who were lost souls finding security again. We are giving hope to children and aid for the families.
Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Srna and a young Ukrainian with his letter to Boris Johnson asking for help“Earlier we played a charity match in aid of refugees whose homes have been destroyed, and in support of our injured soldiers, which generated one million euros.
“And at this moment we are financing life-changing operations overseas for seriously-wounded soldiers, in the United States and Spain, and we are trying to bring them back to life through surgery which costs up to $100,000.”
Palkin says 150 clubs from across Europe have offered aid to the Ukraine war effort and despite top players – including Chelsea's £89 million Mykhaylo Mudryk – leaving for safer destinations, Shakhtar still performed creditably in a Champions League group with Real Madrid and Leipzig.
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Mykhaylo Mudryk left the Ukraine side to join Chelsea this season (Getty Images)As a sequel to the Mudryk deal, they have proposed a showpiece friendly with Chelsea as a charitable fundraiser for Ukraine. They are also in contact with major European clubs, including Premier League big guns, about £1 per ticket at a designated pre-season friendly going towards Ukrainian war charities.
Despite their heroic relief efforts, Shakhtar have not escaped tragedy. Winger Ivan Petryak's father-in-law, a barber from Smila, a small town 120 miles from Kyiv, was killed in fighting last May.
“He had never held a gun, he wasn't a soldier, he was just a normal guy,” wrote Petryak on his Instagram page. “When the war started, he sent the whole family to Budapest and he stayed. For him and many like him who continue to fight, I hope we win very soon.”
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Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergey Palkin has put the club's relief operation in perspective (NurPhoto via Getty Images)While Russian clubs and the national team remain excluded from football's mainstream, Shakhtar are less impressed with Wimbledon's decision to relax the ban on players at the annual tennis garden party in SW19.
Palkin said: “I fear it was a mistake to do that. Many people think sport can stay out of politics, but it's not true.
“We need sport to send a powerful message against those who use war to negotiate, and this was a backward step. This is not just about Ukraine – it is the whole democratic world standing up to a tyrant. We need to be strong and we need to stay together with this message.”
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