Brighton head coach Roberto De Dzerby, known in Ukraine for his work with Shakhtar Donetsk, told Italian journalists his vision of what is happening, making it clear that Ukraine is a victim of aggression and defends its land from the occupiers.
"Shakhtar is the most formative experience of my life. A very strong team, the one that best suited my idea of football. I told the players that in two or three years I would take them to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The worst thing was to accept the war. It was in the air. It was horrible to realise your team was gone. It had been cancelled. It was gone. I was helped by the values of Father Alfredo and Mother Alviana. I felt a responsibility to the guys. "I will not leave you, I will stay with you until the end," I told them. At a time when many, including the club, said there would never be a war, that it was just a game of muscle between the two countries.
I never felt fear. The only fear was the possibility of being stranded, without petrol, in the cold, without food, while driving towards the border. And then there were gunshots, rumours about Russian paratroopers landing in the city centre to kill Zelensky, and also being able to get into the hotel where we were locked up.
What can be said briefly about this? One country has been invaded by another. Full stop. Ukraine is defending its territory. There is nothing more to say here," De Dzerby noted.