The new head coach of Zagłębie, Aleksander Hatskiewicz, recalled for Polish journalists the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine.
- "You can't be prepared for this, who would have thought that there would be a war in the middle of Europe between countries that had friendly ties. Of course, it is known that both countries then went in different directions, Ukraine towards Western Europe, and the Russians returned to the 1980s, 1970s, and maybe even the 1940s, unfortunately, this happened. Civilians, including children, are being killed. What happened on 24 February is horrifying.
When the war started, early in the morning, probably at five, we saw the first missiles flying towards Ukraine. I saw them from my apartment window, they were falling 20-30 kilometres from Kyiv. It's hard to imagine such a situation when you see missiles and windows shaking. We spent the first week in the underground car park of our apartment block. We slept in our cars. So did all the people who lived in our neighbourhood. This went on for a whole week. We only went to the apartment to quickly wash ourselves, make tea or eat something. Imagine spending 22 hours underground and hearing only gunfire. It's a horror. God forbid that any other people have to go through that. You cannot feel safe when there are drones and missiles flying around. Over time, people have learnt what to do in such a situation and how to protect themselves. Our house, thank God, was not damaged.
Belarus. Of course, it is already involved in this war, because it has provided its territory for this purpose. If a country provides territory for a war against Ukraine, it must also pay compensation to the Ukrainian people. However, I hope that not a single Belarusian soldier will come to Ukrainian soil," Khatskevich said.