Tavriya Simferopol won its last trophy 15 years ago, when Serhiy Puchkov's side won the Ukrainian Cup. Today, in Nuremberg, Puchkov will receive an award from the UAF for his contribution to the development of football in Crimea and Kherson region."Championasked the experienced coach about his current life in Germany, his ties to the temporarily occupied city in Luhansk Oblast where he was born, and the mood on the peninsula.
- Sergiy, what are you doing now?
- I spent the first year of the full-scale war in Odesa. Last year, I went to Germany with my wife. We spent some time in a refugee camp. As a result, we ended up in a small town near Frankfurt, in the state of Hesse. Back in November, we enrolled in language integration courses, which start only in June. There is a long queue, we have to wait for more than six months for the courses. I want to improve my German and try to get a job as a coach. I understand that I'll have to start from the bottom - I shouldn't expect offers from the first or second Bundesliga.
- Can you imagine the obstacles you will have to overcome?
- Yes, I do. There are enough coaches here. No one is interested in your previous achievements. In general, a different mentality. But you have to start somewhere. First, with learning German. When I master it a little, I will look for employment options. I really hope that I haven't said my last word in football yet.
- More than a million Ukrainians now live in Germany. Do you keep in touch with anyone from the football world? For example, your former Dnipro team-mate Volodymyr Lyutyi worked at the Hanse Academy a few years ago.
- I never found Lyutyi. As well as Peter Neustaedter, who also played a little at Dnipro and then worked as a coach in Germany. I talked to Igor Simonov - he once played at Shakhtar, and since 2011 he has been working at Eintracht as an administrator. When the Ukrainian national team was playing Italy in Leverkusen, I met Viktor Pasulko, who played for Chornomorets and the USSR national team but has been living in Germany for over 30 years.
- Did the invitation to Nuremberg for the Germany-Ukraine match for the UAF award come as a surprise?
- Yes, it was. I suspect that it was initiated by one of the leaders of the Kherson Regional Football Federation, Oleksiy Krucher. At one time, I coached the local Crystal there. And then, when there was an attempt to revive Tavria after the occupation of Crimea, the team lived in Nova Kakhovka and it was Krucher who introduced me to the club's president.
- You worked on the peninsula for 9 years (2005-2014). When you were coaching Tavria and Sevastopol, did you encounter any situations that could explain what happened in 2014 when Crimea was temporarily occupied by Russia?
- No one expected this to happen. During the Revolution of Dignity, unfortunately, Russian propaganda worked well in Crimea, which was supported by statements from the Svoboda party. At least then, Russian propagandists kept quoting Tyahnybok with his "We will come to Crimea and give it a good run for its money". It is quite possible that they simply distorted his words. But in Sevastopol, they took it at face value and were offended. They were offended.
- Some of the players and coaches you met at Tavria and Sevastopol stayed in Crimea and continue to work there. What is their mood?
- Those I talk to would like Ukraine to return to Crimea. They admit that they are in bondage. They didn't leave in 2014 because they bought housing on the peninsula and had children there. It is very easy to condemn people. But what could they have done there? Could they have come out with a Ukrainian flag so that they could all be quickly "packed up"? Who would have benefited from that? Now, by and large, there is no football in Crimea. There is no normal team. They can only remember how good it was under Ukraine. And they all live in great fear now.
- You were born in the town of Lutugino in the Luhansk region, which was occupied back in 2014. What connects you to this town now?
- Nothing. Last year I buried my father. He was cremated. I regret that I can't take the urn with his ashes to the cemetery to my mum.
- You spent most of your playing career in the USSR, played for the youth national team and obviously had many friends in Russia. After 24 February 2022, do you continue to communicate with anyone from the aggressor country?
- I communicate only with the Balts from Lithuanian Zalgiris and Georgians from Dynamo Tbilisi. We congratulate each other on our birthdays on Facebook. Sometimes we call each other. I have no desire to keep in touch with the Russians. They are all zombified. You can't prove anything to them. Let it be on their conscience.
Maksym Rozenko