On May 24, FC Shakhtar’s CEO and Director of Football visited Arena Lviv.

Serhiy Palkin and Darijo Srna met with the club staff who are involved in the round-the-clock operation of Shakhtar's Shelter Centre, they also talked with the IDPs who had left their homes to escape the hostilities and found temporary shelter at the centre at the Arena Lviv.

The directors pointed out the absolute importance of the operation of the Shelter Centre and assured that the club would continue doing its best to help Ukrainians affected by the war.

Serhiy Palkin, FC Shakhtar CEO:
“Arena Lviv is a symbolic place. This is the first stadium that hosted us after 2014. And I couldn’t even imagine that fate would have this in store for the arena, but the stadium helps and saves many people these days. They come from the eastern regions of Ukraine, and it’s difficult to bring these people back to a normal life after everything they have experienced. When we look at their faces today, we understand that they have calmed down a bit, and that we have helped them in a way, we made our contribution. Therefore, I really like the way everything is arranged at our Shelter Centre, I like our guys from Shakhtar who work here – everyone is smiling, everyone is friendly. But the most important indicator of the quality of our work is the opinion of the people who come here and stay here. And when you look at them, you understand that everything we do is right. But at the same time, I want as few people as possible to stay here and all this to end as soon as possible. Today we’ve met many of our staff members whom we haven’t seen for four to five months. It's like a balm for the soul, very pleasant emotions. May God give them strength and patience because they receive many people with different destinies and different circumstances, and at that moment they need to help as much as possible and do everything that depends on them to the maximum. Our major objective here is to help people. In any way: technical, mental, and physical. This is the main task, and I see that we are doing very well.”

Darijo Srna, FC Shakhtar Director of Football:
“After we left Donetsk in 2014, we were playing at the Arena Lviv, and now we are meeting people from all over Ukraine here. It’s a tough time, but we're here to help one another. We have already gone through all this and we know that in such situations it’s necessary to help people. We are glad that we can provide support to the people in need these days. Shakhtar has always done so, the club president has always done it, and we will continue to help. There are many kids here – that’s the future of the country. We will do our best to make them feel comfortable even in this kind of situation.”

As a reminder, Shakhtar's Shelter Centre at the Arena Lviv opened in April and receives migrants from different regions of Ukraine every day. The centre can accommodate about 230 adults and children.

This is a reminder that SCM businesses, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FC Shakhtar have already donated about UAH 2.1 billion to Ukraine and Ukrainian people since February 24. The total amount of aid including taxes paid upfront exceeds UAH 3 billion.