Metalist 1925" midfielder Artem Gabelok shared his emotions after the drone shrapnel hit his Kyiv home.
Artem Gabelok - Artem, hello. Sorry I'm not calling about football.
- Yes, it came in. We woke up in the morning in Lviv, started reading the news. Lucky we weren't in Kiev. We live on the sixth floor, it hit the 25th. You always think that it won't affect you, but it happens like this... It's not a nice situation.
- Was it shrapnel?
- Shahid drone hit, I take it. If you were home, you'd be in the bathroom. But the way it came in, the bathroom might not have helped. It makes you wonder.
- Where else can you hide ?
- Depends on the scale. If we know, say, 100 missiles are coming, we go to the car park under the house. And if the alarm is at night, like this time, at two o'clock in the morning, we go to the bathroom. We usually do it in the bathroom beforehand, and if there's an alarm, we go into it.
- You can' t sleep in the car park ?
- No, walk around, sit around. You can't sit there for three hours, let's say. If there are arrivals every day, then you're in a tonus, so you go down to the car park. And if there's a lull, then you relax, hoping that this house won't be hit. We're in the neighbourhood where we live, it's often triggered near us. Every alarm, we understand that there will be a lot of explosions.
- "Metalist 1925", usually lives in Kyiv, right? Is it hard for the whole team, if the night was with sirens?
- Of course. Especially when there are a lot of arrivals, we are noisy. Yes, the base is in Schastlivoye near Kyiv, everyone lives in the city mostly. Sometimes we'd just go to Schastlivoye if there were a lot of explosions. We'd wait it out there.
- Did you have a rest in Lviv ?
- No, training camp with the team. In Vinniki. We train on the pitch of Markevych stadium, we live in Kozlovskiy's hotel, sometimes we train at the base of "Rukh". Now there is a lot of running work, we are improving our physical condition. We are strengthening, the club has signed several players. And maybe someone else will be added. We are laying the foundation, we hope for a successful season.
- Do you already know the tasks for the season ?
- It's hard to say yet. There are still positions that need to be strengthened, and we need players for rotation. Of course, we would like to fight not for survival, but for the European Cup, that's what we are striving for. We will see.
- Artem, this is the first time I talk to you. Are you always so calm?
- I am always like this (smiles). In general, I feel normal.
- Your girlfriend Dasha was the first to report that there was a hit in your house.
- Yes, it so happens that she also works in "Metalist 1925". She is with us at the training camp, here I feel a little better than other players, their wives and girlfriends stayed in Kyiv.
- How is she?
- Fine, everything is good. In general, she is such a more nervous person. When there are explosions, I just open my eyes and she is already in the bathroom. In that sense, she has a better reaction than me (smiles).
- Is the bathtub that big ?
- I mean the bathroom. Yes, you can make a bed for two in there.
- Is it convenient when your girlfriend is in the same club with you?
- It's very convenient. I'm very lucky in that respect. I don't know where else there's such a thing. Especially when it comes to training camps, we are together.
- Dasha runs social networks ?
- The club's media department. A presenter, who tells all the interesting things from the life of "Metalist 1925" on video.
- Do your teammates complain that your photos are posted on social networks more often than others?
- No, there was no such thing. Except as a joke, to make jokes (smiles). This is normal in our club (smiles ). Moreover, we have a photographer and a videographer, and Dasha is a journalist.
- And Dasha is comfortable. There is always at least one player who will give an interview.
- One hundred per cent.
Anton Terekhov
