Former footballer Andriy Shevchenko in an interview with Corriere della Sera he talks about the war in Ukraine, and promises he will help the refugees. Shevchenko says he speaks Russian because he was taught it in school and because in Ukraine «we are not indiscriminately against the Russian people, we are against those who support the war. We know how to distinguish between a people and a regime. I know for sure that many in Russia are also against war ». 111 station e 48 goal with the National team, the Scudetto, the Champions League but also the Golden Ball with Milan, Andriy Shevchenko is one of the most famous (and appreciated) footballers in the world. He is experiencing a drama since his family is in Ukraine: his mother and sister are at home, in 25 minutes from the center of Kiev. “Now other relatives have joined them, including my aunt who spent four days locked in the cellar. You live near an airport, your neighborhood has been bombed. ” Shevchenko’s parents have decided not to leave their country because “it is their homeland, their land, their home. If anything, I would have preferred to join them myself. Why should they have left? ‘
“I thought about leaving for Ukraine but it’s impossible”
Shevchenko defines the invasion of Ukraine as «an aggression, a crime against civilians»: «Nobody wanted to believe it, right up to the end. We could not imagine that Russia would do this to us. It seemed impossible to us ». She thought of leaving for Ukraine, she thought about it «many times but it is impossible»: «They closed everything immediately. Airports were bombed first. So I decided to defend my country as best I can. Telling who we are, how much we are suffering. Helping victims and refugees. The response from Italy was exceptional ». Through Gofundmefor example, “we have collected 343.764 euro for the Red Cross: trauma kits, medicines, provisions. Other funds are raised by the Milan Foundation, which has put up for sale the replica of the shirts we wore in Manchester when in 2003 we won the Champions League. He called me my friend Giorgio Armani, who mobilized in person. I spoke to the mayor of Florence and the mayor of Milan. I hope to be able to announce a special initiative soon ». The goal is to “welcome many Ukrainians fleeing the war”: they are almost “all children, women and the elderly since men between 18 and 60 years they cannot leave the country. “
“In Kiev I played football every day”
Ukrainian President Zelensky is behaving “with great courage, gathering Ukrainians around him”. No intention of surrendering, on the contrary: «We want peace. But giving up right now would mean losing our freedom. We are fighting and we will fight for our freedom and our rights. We want to get closer to Europe. We have not attacked anyone, we are only defending ourselves ». He then applauds the Western sanctions on Russia because they serve to “put pressure on and find a diplomatic solution” and agrees with the exclusion of Russia from the World Cup. In Kiev he played “football every day”: “We were one country. Now this war is erasing a whole common past: in culture, and also in sport. The great Soviet footballers were Ukrainians. Oleg Blochin, Oleksandr Zavarov, Oleksij Mychajlycenko, Ihor Belanov… Bubka is also Ukrainian, he is the president of our Olympic Committee », he concludes.
Photo on the cover of the repertoire: ANSA / LUCA ZENNARO
