Ukrainian refugee youth cheer FC Shakhtar to 'forget the war'

Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, now playing in Poland due to Russia's invasion, count on solid support from a unique set of fans: refugee children for whom each match is an escape and a source of national pride.

Sergei Yeravoi, an 11-year-old from Odessa, said "the team has been supporting Ukraine during these tough times and has been raising money for the army".

One of the lucky recipients of a free ticket to see the football club in action, he dreams of playing professional football, calling Shakhtar "the best team in Ukraine" -- better than arch-rivals Dynamo Kyiv.

Dima Kovbasyuk, a teenager from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, said he liked Shakhtar because the team "supports Ukraine".

Kovbasyuk has been living in Poland for almost a year now, along with his mother and two brothers, but his father remains in Ukraine.

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"He's defending our city and helping people," the 13-year-old told AFP.

Like others at the Warsaw Ukrainian School, Kovbasyuk will be in the stands on Thursday to cheer on Shakhtar when it faces Dutch team Feyenoord in the first leg of the Europa League last 16.

They will be able to watch the match in person thanks to a news site for Ukrainians in Poland giving away free tickets to refugee children, their parents and teachers.

"It's important that children fleeing the war can get some respite and a taste of normal life, that they can forget about the war for a second," said the Inpoland site's Ukrainian editor-in-chief Oleksandr Martyniuk.

For the match against Feyenoord, the 33-year-old former sports journalist has given more than 1,000 tickets to Ukrainian schools across Poland.

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It was the third time he had distributed tickets donated free-of-charge by Shakhtar.

'Make good memories'

Since Russia's invasion, millions of people -- mostly women and children -- have fled Ukraine. More than a million of them are now living in Poland, according to official figures.

"Many of the children, most of whom are from the east of Ukraine, have had traumatic experiences when all they want is a normal life, a normal childhood," Martyniuk told AFP.

"They want to have a nice time with their parents, to make good memories, and the matches are perfect for that."

For the students, "this is a good chance to see how the game is going, to watch the fans, to feel the atmosphere", said Oleg Veselov, a football coach and physical education teacher at the Warsaw Ukrainian School.

"They have the motivation to be involved in football, and in different kinds of sports," he told AFP.

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Dream come true

The school has around 270 students, and some 200 students, teachers and parents will attend the match on Thursday.

"It's also a chance for them to feel something positive again, since they can perhaps forget the war for a moment," Veselov said.

"It's a chance for Ukrainians, our children, to feel united."

Following each match, Veselov goes over the game with students, discussing tactics, player performance, the atmosphere in the stands and the football anthems.

"Before... most of the kids, especially those from small towns, had never seen a football match at this level," said Marina Forkaviets, a 35-year-old teacher of Ukrainian.

"When we handed out the tickets for the first match, parents wrote us to say we had made their children's dreams come true," she told AFP.

"If it's a win for Shakhtar... They post photos online and, the next day, it's still all they can talk about."