Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Shakhtar's UK-based fans relish opportunities to watch their team, with Crystal Palace's away section selling out in an hour By Nathan Edwards BBC Sport journalist Artem Genne's favourite footballing memory is standing on the Donbas Arena pitch, waving the Champions League flag, before Shakhtar Donetsk faced Chelsea. That was in 2012. Two years later, the Russian-backed capture of Donetsk led many Ukrainians to leave the city, including ardent Shakhtar supporter Genne.
A large number fled to other areas of Ukraine and beyond, with the region's football club forced to find a new home. Fourteen years later, they are still searching. It has led Shakhtar to Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv in Ukraine, and Poland, Slovenia and Germany for European games.
This season they will play their home Champions League fixtures at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, with Genne, who now lives in the West Midlands, aiming to attend all four - starting with AEK Athens on Wednesday."When the invasion started, lots of people left, thinking that it's all going to be over in several weeks, we'll be coming back. But unfortunately, that didn't happen," he says."When I meet people from my home area of Ukraine abroad, it gives you a sense of home and hope."Knowing that you're sharing the values and you remember the times when it was different, that's important. It gives you a bit of a soft tear because that's something you cannot touch any more."In the UK, people are very supportive and I want to highlight that I'm extremely grateful to this country for hosting so many of our people at the most difficult time."When you're walking around in a Shakhtar shirt, people are clapping their hands and giving you high fives and there is no aggression whatsoever."Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Since the Russian-backed annexation of East Ukraine, Donetsk have featured in some form of European competition every season.
Dima Prasolov, who left Donetsk for Kyiv after the war started and now lives in Kent, is another who will be supporting, with fans able to buy a four-game pass."I was ecstatic because it's the first time in about 15 years that I will be able to buy some sort of a season ticket for Shakhtar," says Prasolov."It really means everything to me because it's the club I've been supporting all my life. But since the Russian invasion, for us Donbas people, watching our team regularly is almost impossible."For me, it's a very emotional situation, because of how much the club means to me and how dedicated myself and my family are to the club."Indeed, the London stadium offers a brief safe haven from the uncertainty faced in Ukraine. Chief executive Sergei Palkin says Shakhtar have had to move their under-12 team to a safer area of Kyiv following recent attacks, while their women's side had a match disrupted by a nearby drone strike."Every day when our team goes to the pitch, it's much more than football because behind it we have a lot of challenges every day," says Palkin."It's a human question, a mental question, a family question for our players, for the academy and so on.
The most difficult and important challenge is uncertainty."You wake up in the morning and you don't know what's going to happen today or tomorrow."Palkin adds: "Part of our role when we play in London and other cities in Europe is to send these messages and remind people what's going on."Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Shakhtar's general director is hoping for an average of 30,000 supporters at Stamford Bridge for the four home games. This week's occasion is more important than just watching Shakhtar. It will be a chance for Ukrainians to come together in London, even involving rival fans.
The dynamic of Ukrainian football support has changed for many clubs since the invasion in 2022. Shakhtar's fanbase, meanwhile, has shifted since 2014, with many ultras fighting in the war but still supporting their clubs from afar."My two friends are supporters o...".
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing