FC Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Denys Boiko is currently in Valais with his team. In the interview for Rhone FM he told what his people are going through and how he helps by playing football.
On Saturday, Dynamo won against FC Sion in a friendly – 1:0. Ukrainians have played about twenty games of the kind since the war broke off. The Ukrainian league was cancelled because of the war against Russia. Mircea Lucescu’s men are traveling Europe to remind people how serious the situation in their country is. 34-year-old Denys Boiko is a family man and Dynamo goalkeeper.
- How’re you doing in Valais?
- We’re here to get ready for the season. That’s the time of the year when we work a lot having two sessions a day. We must be ready for the Champions League qualifiers against Fenerbahce.
- You haven’t played official matches since December. Do you miss those?
- Sure. We haven’t had those since the first part of the season. Now we’re getting ready again. Under these circumstances we don’t know what happens tomorrow. War is the biggest problem. All Ukrainian teams are getting through this.
- How’re you personally doing?
- Russian aggression is horrific. As I’ve said, we don’t know what happens tomorrow. All Ukrainian people are dealing with this. We must do our best to help. To me it means playing friendlies for peace and focusing on training process.
- What do you remember about February 24?
- I woke up with my family. At that moment I didn’t understand what was going on. When I realized, it was really tough. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. At first I aimed to save my family. When I did, with Dynamo help, I finally realized it’s war. That’s something you can’t even imagine in the 21st century. To keep fighting, we continued living as normally as possible, playing football and practicing.
- Is it possible under these circumstances?
- No. Because it’s war. Real war. When russians say it’s something different, they lie. They kill our people, our children, burn and destroy everything. So, it’s difficult to focus on football. But that’s our job and we must be professionals. We must do it for our people, for our country. Matches for peace raise funds for those who need it in Ukraine.
- You and your family left Ukraine. Whom do you keep in touch with?
- I have a lot of friends who are there. My wife and kids live in Bucharest while my parents are in Ukraine. They’re in a safe place, but I still worry. Russians bomb the whole country. You never know where the next bomb falls. That’s horrible. I also have friends among soldiers. They fight to let people sleep and wake up in the morning.
- What’s the role of football in this situation?
- When we play football, we show our people we’re alive. We speak about the war and try to explain Europe and the world what’s happening in Ukraine. This is war. We must talk about it every day. This is our mission when we’re outside the country.
- Did you consider leaving Dynamo for another club? A European one, to protect your family and yourself.
- I didn’t. This club did everything for our families and all people working for Dynamo. I never considered leaving the club because of war. That’s impossible. I must help the club and my country.
- Will the Ukrainian league restart soon, in your opinion?
- That’s possible. We must do it. This is important for our country, our people. We must show the whole world that we’re alive, we continue playing football and doing our best to win this war.
