Shakhtar Donetsk game interrupted by air raid sirens

A match in Ukraine between Shakhtar Donetsk and Oleksandriya was interrupted because of an air rain siren. While Shakhtar had a narrow 1-0 lead, sirens rang out signaling possible threats of military missiles in the area.

Players and coaches went back to their dressing rooms during the commotion. The sirens reportedly lasted for nearly an hour. Shakhtar’s English Twitter account also claimed that halftime was trimmed down to just five minutes because of the long break.

The game eventually resumed after the sirens subsided. Shakhtar had thought that they grabbed the winner in the 82nd minute, as star forward Mykhaylo Mudryk scored his seven goal of the season. However, Oleksandriya found the equalizer just four minutes later. The match ended all square at 2-2.

Soccer in Ukraine resumed in August despite danger of the ongoing conflict inside the country. Russia invaded the country back in February.

Shakhtar has been forced to play domestic matches in Lviv during the current campaign. Donetsk is fairly close to the Russian border and is considered to be unsafe to the public. Lviv, on the other hand, is about 750 miles west of Donetsk.

The Ukrainian club has even had to play their Champions League matches in another country. Shakhtar previously signed an agreement to play their European group stage matches in Warsaw, Poland this season. Warsaw is another 250 miles northwest of Lviv.

Travel is taking a toll on the Ukrainian giants. Shakhtar have even had some of their domestic matches postponed due to the constant back and forth between the two cities.

Despite the travel, Shakhtar are still second in the Ukrainian Premier League table, just two points behind the leaders. They have even qualified to continue European play as well.

A positive result midweek could give the Ukrainians access to the Uefa Champions League knockout rounds. Even a loss or draw against RB Leipzig on Wednesday would still put Shakhtar in the Europa League competition.

Photo credit: IMAGO / Vitalii Kliuiev