In war-torn occupied territories, fake teams are being deployed as a tool to normalise a violent denial of the past
“On 12 April a new club played its first game in Russia’s football pyramid. A healthy enough crowd gathered at Novokolor Arena in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, 20 miles from the border with Ukraine’s occupied territories, encouraged by a slick buildup on social media. They watched ‘Zarya Luhansk’ begin their slog through the Third League, the fifth tier of a complicated Russian system whose composition shifts annually, with a 5-0 home win over Volgar Astrakhan’s second team. Some had travelled by chartered bus from the city their club purports to represent.The name may sound familiar. …”
Guardian

Police officers during an opposition rally.
“There will be no supporters in the stands of Stadion Karadorde, in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, when Belarus begin their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a ‘home’ match against Switzerland on Saturday. Nor, in many eyes, will there be much excuse for the fact their meeting is taking place at all. Belarus are the competition’s pariahs: virtually friendless bar this weekend’s hosts and condemned to play all of their games on foreign soil for the foreseeable future, they will play on despite the deep sense of unease around their participation. Last March Uefa banned Belarus from playing on their own territory on account of the country’s supporting role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. …”
Guardian
Guardian: Russia has seamlessly returned to football – and nobody seems overly perturbed

“… I was supposed to be there in Kyiv with my mum. It had been her birthday a couple of days before and we were going to have a family dinner at her place with my sister and a few friends. I’d even booked my flights from the 19th to 29th, but because of some paperwork I’d had to do in the U.K., I’d changed my flight out for the 26th. A few hours after my mum’s call, videos started to come in from friends and on social media. Russian helicopters over our land, missiles hitting our roads, bridges and airports, huge traffic jams of people fleeing Kyiv. In a single day, thousands of people who had spent all their lives in Ukraine became refugees. …”
The Players Tribune

“‘My heart aches when I think of Kharkiv,’ says goalkeeper Denys Sydorenko. ‘A missile hit our training ground – there’s nothing left of where we used to play.’ On 22 February, Sydorenko’s team, Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, were taking part in a regular training session during the Ukrainian Premier League’s winter break. Two days later, everything stopped. Russia had invaded. Now, six months into the war, Ukraine is preparing to resume its domestic football competitions – despite the constant danger the ongoing conflict brings. The decision to cancel the remainder of the 2021-22 football season was finally taken in April. Shakhtar Donetsk were leading by two points with just over half of the matches played. …”
BBC

“Five months ago, footballers in Ukraine could not afford to give a second thought to their sport. The horrors being inflicted by Russia’s invading forces left nobody untouched and the act of staying alive, while ensuring the same of their loved ones, was all that mattered. Many players left their clubs for the country’s west, basing themselves in relatively calm locations; some sheltered underground with their families and, in a number of cases, teammates, for days on end. …”
Guardian (July 24)

“Chernihiv is the largest Ukrainian city to have been freed from Russian occupation. Its pre-war population was estimated at around 280,000. After being under siege for more than a month only a third of that figure remains. Seven hundred people have lost their lives, according to official sources. Before the Russian invasion on 24 February, the city was little known around the world. It is situated 150 kilometres northeast of Kyiv and just 60km from the border with Belarus, on the banks of the Desna river. In Ukraine, Chernihiv was known for its wonderful churches, chic parks and great promenades by the river. …”
Guardian

“In the basement of their family home, the wife of Taras Stepanenko took refuge underground, accompanied by the couple’s three children, aged eight, seven and four. The explosions started in the middle of the night, the thuds of artillery thundering in the distance. As the family sheltered, the Ukrainian international footballer Stepanenko organised. His home, near to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, is located close to woodland and set against the Dnieper river. … Yet now, he is one of the millions hiding within their own borders. He has been stripped, at least temporarily, of his career and his freedom. …”
The Athletic