Almost two years into Russia’s devastating invasion, one of Ukraine’s most famous exports is desperate to keep shining a light on his country’s plight, writes Lawrence Ostlere, as global attention shifts to the Middle East
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Andriy Shevchenko visits the ruined centre of Borodyanka, near Kyiv
n the morning of 24 February 2022 – a date etched in every Ukrainian’s mind – Andriy Shevchenko was woken by a phone call from his mother. She told him through tears that Russia was invading. Shevchenko was in London, where he lives with his wife and four sons; his mother and wider family were in Ukraine, under attack.
Shevchenko has barely slept since. “It’s almost impossible,” he says. “It’s going to be almost two years since the full war started, and every day I wake up, check the phone – what’s the news? Are we going to be attacked in Kyiv? Are we going to be attacked in a different city? How many drones? How many rockets? Where have the rockets hit? And then, talking to my friends – who’s dead? It’s a normal day for us.”
Shevchenko is using his platform as one of Europe’s greatest footballers, a Ballon d’Or winner and a Chelsea cult hero, to keep the spotlight on Ukraine at a time when the world’s attention has turned to the Middle East. In the West, the initial shock caused by Russia’s invasion has subsided, and a sense of normalisation has crept in. He is understandably worried that Ukraine’s cause might be forgotten.
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Shevchenko with founders and students of the Oxbridge Foundation, which enrols gifted Ukrainian teenagers on a one-year intensive programme
Oxbridge Foundation
Shevchenko and American actor Liev Schreiber, whose maternal grandfather emigrated from Ukraine, visit the bombed centre of Borodianka, Kyiv Oblast
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Shevchenko leads his team out at the Game4Ukraine match at Stamford Bridge in August
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the players and the crowd from a giant screen
AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine fans sing the national anthem before kick-off
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Andriy Shevchenko visits the ruined centre of Borodyanka, near Kyiv
Getty
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