EA group of Brazilian soccer players and their families returned home on Tuesday after fleeing the war in Ukraine for several days. “The worst thing was what we saw on the streets: people dying, people who had nothing to do with this situation,” said Shakhtar Donetsk forward Pedrinho after arriving in Sao Paulo. “I took my four-month-old daughter with me. I just wanted her to be okay. The images of terror and the destroyed cities stayed in my head,” said the 23-year-old.
13 professionals from top Ukrainian club Shakhtar traveled with dozens of other people first by train and then by bus to Romania, from where they took their flights to Brazil.
When Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, Shakhtar’s Brazilians and two Dynamo Kyiv players – Uruguayan Carlos de Pena and Brazilian Vitinho – first took refuge in a hotel with their families and asked the Brazilian government for help in exiting the country . “Everything blew up from one day to the next. On Thursday morning we were at home when we heard the bombs and planes, that’s when the nightmare started,” de Pena told AFP. “It wasn’t easy to coordinate the transport because there were a lot of desperate people, a lot of people fleeing , Russian troops approaching the capital.”
After three days at the hotel, the players embarked on a 17-hour train journey and then a 15-hour bus journey with the help of the European Football Union (UEFA) to reach Romania. “It was very dark when we left, we didn’t know what to expect,” said Shakhtar player Maycon, who remains worried about his Ukrainian teammates: “We have great friends there, I’m sorry for them. I really hope everything will work out.”
