Destroyed stadium stand from Kharkiv on display in Berlin

Soccer - Destroyed stadium stand from Kharkiv on display in Berlin

Before two years ago, it served as a training ground for the Ukrainian football national team, then came the war - now parts of the destroyed Sonjatschnyj-Stadion from Kharkiv are being exhibited in Berlin. In the Fan Zone at the Reichstag, 21 seats of the tribune have been set up since then, which were destroyed by Russian bombs in May 2022. The Ukrainian ambassador Oleksii Makeiev and Bundestag president Bärbel Bas opened the interactive installation.

"With this tribune, we wanted to show that football is not immune to war," Makeiev said. Dozens of football stadiums in Ukraine have been destroyed since the beginning of the aggression war. While the EM is running in Germany, there are always air raids in Kharkiv. Bas said the installation shows how close sorrow and joy are. "While one joy is great, we must not forget that a war is raging in Europe, which leaves such images behind."

The exhibition is a project of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF). According to the UAF, 500 sports facilities in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed by Russian bombardments and rocket attacks to date. The Sonjatschnyj-Stadion was built for the Football European Championship 2012 in Poland and Ukraine as a training ground. In this stadium in Kharkiv, for example, the German national team trained.

1. Bärbel Bas, alongside Oleksiy Makeyev, acknowledged the significance of the exhibited Stadium grandstand seats from Kharkiv's Sonjatschnyj-Stadion, emphasizing their devastation by Russian bombs during the 2022 war.
2. The interactive installation showcases the damaged 21 seats from the Stadium grandstand of Sonjatschnyj-Stadion in Berlin, symbolizing the intersection of soccer and war's devastating impact on Ukraine.
3. The Ukrainian ambassador, Oleksiy Makeyev, pointed out that the soccer world is not shielded from war, citing the numerous stadiums in Ukraine that have been ruined since the agression war's beginning.
4. The Sonjatschnyj-Stadion, built for the 2012 Football European Championship (EM) in Poland and Ukraine, served as a training ground for the German national soccer team prior to its destruction.
5. As the European Football Championship (EM) unfolds in Germany, ongoing air raids persist in Kharkiv, a stark reminder of the conflict's damaging impact on Ukraine's national Stadium grandstand and soccer industry.
6. The Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) spearheaded the project to exhibit parts of the destroyed Sonjatschnyj-Stadion in Berlin, aiming to shed light on the 500 sports facilities in Ukraine that have been damaged or razed by Russian bombardments and rocket attacks during the ongoing war.

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