When my kids ask how much I did to help when war was in Ukraine, I want to say I did my best, says Oleksandr Zinchenko

ARSENAL footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko is struggling to keep his emotions in check as he wrestles with the enormity of the horrors being inflicted on his homeland.

The 26-year-old captain of Ukraine’s national side has not long returned from a visit to a school almost entirely destroyed by Russian missiles.

Pupils told him how President Vladimir Putin’s troops had raped and pillaged after marching into their homes.

Oleksandr, known as Alex, was in tears during the warm up before his first match following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Today he is expressing very different feelings.

Leaning forward, he told The Sun: “I’m angry even now, not just since the invasion. I am angry every single day.”

The question this footballing hero keeps asking himself is: How can he best help his country?

Alex had considered signing up to serve with Ukraine’s armed forces, but was persuaded that he could support his brave nation in other ways.

The eastern European country’s most famous current player is both raising awareness about the true cost of the war and funds to repair some of the shelled schools.

He will be the captain of one of the celebrity sides in the Game4Ukraine charity match taking place at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium in West London on August 5.

Alex’s team, who are lining up against one captained by Ukraine’s goalscoring legend Andriy Shevchenko, 46, will be managed by former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

‘I was in shock’

More than 800 schools have been badly damaged by Russian missiles, with 220 beyond repair.

Through the Game4Ukraine match Alex aims to raise enough money to rebuild the Mykhailo- Kotsiubynsky Lyceum in Chernihiv Oblast that he visited with Andriy just over a week ago.

This thoughtful young father explains: “I have a daughter who is nearly two and I hope to have another baby soon and I just want to do something good.

“Because when they grow up they will ask me, ‘Daddy, when this war was in our country, what did you do? How much did you help?’ I want to look in my kids’ eyes and say, ‘Well, me and your mum we were trying to do our best’.”

Alex’s daughter is called Eva, and his wife Vlada Sedan, 27, a football journalist, is pregnant with their second child.

The player is certainly doing his bit to make them proud.

This game is not just to raise funds, it is also to show the world we stick together, we are united, we feel your support, we know we are not alone.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

He is an ambassador for United24, Ukraine’s official fundraising platform, helped organise humanitarian aid supplies and set up the charity Football for Ukraine to fund sporting projects for young people affected by the conflict.

The defender also had the day job of playing for Arsenal as they reached second place in the Premier League this season, the London side’s highest position since 2016.

Footballing commitments, which included captaining Ukraine in World Cup qualifying games last year, meant he had been unable to return to his homeland since Russia failed to take the capital Kyiv last April.

But the defender this month saw the price of Putin’s aggression for himself.

He said: “It is a completely different story when you see all these destroyed buildings by your eyes, rather than by your phone.

“I can’t say it wasn’t scary.”

Mykhailo-Kotsiubynsky Lyceum is in an area in the north that was occupied by Russian troops for 33 days.

The building is a mangled mess, its windows blown out and ceilings draping down to the floorboards.

Alex continues: “We have seen the damage to this school. I spoke with the kids who study in this school and some of them saw Russian army in their houses, because they were so close to Chernihiv.

“Some of them were stealing, some of them were doing the other stuff, which I don’t really want to speak about. Honestly, I was in shock because kids, they cannot lie.”

He recognises the long-term impact on the mental health of Ukraine’s youth, some of whom are already displaying signs of PTSD.

Alex adds: “I understand this is a big, big mental injury for them, living in war time.

“Imagine you are five, six, seven years old and someone comes to your house with the guns, this is already mental torture.”

But he also sees the positive power of the beautiful game.

Alex and Andriy, who played for AC Milan and Chelsea, had a kickabout with the kids during their visit.

He recalls: “They love football and when we were playing football together, me and Shevchenko, they were smiling, they were laughing.”

The Game4Ukraine is a way of harnessing the world’s obsession with the sport to give those children hope for a better future.

Alex says: “We have no option, we have to move forward.”

The two 11-a-side teams taking part in Game4Ukraine, which will be broadcast live on Sky, will feature ex-players and showbiz talent.

The line-up is yet to be named, but Alex will have to captain from the sidelines due to an injury.

Born in Radomyshl, 60 miles west of Kyiv, his talent on the field took him to Shakhtar Donetsk, where he became captain of the youth team.

He was forced to leave in 2014 after marauding troops backed by Putin waged war in and around Donetsk.

The football team, once one of the best in Europe, were not able to give him game time due to the upheaval and his parents took him to what they thought would be the safety of Russia.

In 2016 he was snapped up by Manchester City, where he won four Premier League titles.

Alex was part of manager Pep Guardiola’s side when Putin expanded his attack to the whole of Ukraine in February 2022.

He moved to Arsenal last summer for £32million.

Alex has been lifted by the backing of the British people.

He said: “After one week of the invasion, kids in Manchester came to me and they said, ‘Alex, we are all with you, with your people’. They were ten years old, they really understood.”

But Alex cannot understand why Putin started this bloody war, in which more than 60,000 Russian and Ukrainian forces are estimated to have been killed.

Throughout the interview he puts his hands together and stretches, as if his whole being is straining to comprehend this outrage against humanity.

He is supposed to be talking about football, but the only thing on his mind are the atrocities being carried out by what he describes as “Russian terrorists”.

There are many questions, including: “For what? They came to our land, to occupy?

Alex also asks why Putin’s forces drop missiles on civilian targets or why they destroyed a dam last week, leading to the flooding of 29 towns and villages.

But he has great faith in the inspirational President Volodymyr Zelensky, who the footballer met during his recent trip.

Alex declares: “We are independent, we have our president, we have our people.”

He is grateful for the military aid being offered by PM Rishi Sunak, saying: “I would like to say to the Prime Minister massive thanks for the help we have received.”

That solidarity is vital to the ongoing effort of the Ukrainian people to assert their right to freedom.

Game4Ukraine will help to spread the message of unity.

Alex concludes: “It is a great idea to organise this game not just to raise the funds, it is also to show the world we stick together, we are united, and we are all in the same situation. We feel your support, we know we are not alone and it is so important for us and for all Ukranians.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk