Jordan, the eldest son of the former head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Andriy Shevchenko, gave an interview to the Voice of America, where he said that he is proud of his Ukrainian genes, learns the Ukrainian language, and delves into the history of Ukraine:
"We lived either in my father's apartment or in my grandmother's apartment, so I have a lot of fond memories of spending time with my family, especially my grandmother's cooking. There was a lot of delicious home-cooked food, but again, I felt that I couldn't touch this side of me deeply, also because of the language barrier.
Before that, I didn't really support my Ukrainian side, but as soon as the war started, I felt it was my duty. Because the reality is that being a Ukrainian is under threat now, so Ukrainians really need to come together and show why we are important as a country, why we are important as a people.
For most of its history, Ukraine has been under the influence of external forces - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the west, Muscovy from the east, then the Ottomans from the south... Everybody is fighting for this land, and in a way it's almost repeating itself because we have this external force trying to claim our land, threaten our freedom, but we're not going to go down without a fight.
We have our own table on the campus at the university, we talk about the war and collect donations, and in exchange for these donations we give stickers, pens, postcards.
I can't speak Ukrainian with my father yet, but I can use a few words in a conversation, and I think it shows him that I'm taking the initiative. It is important to me that I am Ukrainian. I am finally backing it up with actions. Glory to Ukraine," Jordan was quoted as saying by the Bombardier telegram channel.