Ukraine football league will be making a comeback for the first time since the February 2022 Russian invasion.
The league will begin on Tuesday, August 23 with Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist 1925 Kharkiv facing off at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex.
The 70,000-capacity stadium will however be without fans as the match gets underway. This is a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the fans from the ongoing Russian attacks.
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Some of the security measures set to be implemented include bomb shelters and air raid sirens.
Ukraine Football Federation president, Andriy Pavelko, stated that their country's President Volodymyr Zelensky was a key driving force behind the push for the return of football.
"This will be a unique competition... I spoke with our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about how important football is as a distraction.
"We spoke about how football could help us to think about the future," Pavelko stated.
Shakhtar Donetsk captain, Taras Stepanenko, during an interview with AP expressed the preparedness for the league return
"We have rules in case of an alarm and we should go to be underground, but I think the teams and the players will be proud of this event.
"We are ready, we are strong and I think we will show the will to win," Stepanenko noted.
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