Shakhtar Donetsk on playing in London, Russian rockets and ‘Invest in Ukraine’

Shakhtar Donetsk have set up shop in London at Chelsea s Stamford Bridge to show the world that Ukraine remains open for business despite five years of aggression from Russia, their CEO tells City AM. Serhii Palkin, the long-serving CEO of Shakhtar Donetsk, has just joined our call when the grim reality of trying to run Ukraine’s top football club while under Russian bombardment intrudes. “At this moment we have an air raid siren but I will not go to the shelter. I will stay here in the office because it s not possible to work if you go every time to the shelter,” he says wearily. “It s been our life for five years, Frank. Five years.” This week he is trekking from Kyiv to London – a 12-hour drive followed by a flight – to see his team take on Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium. Shakhtar have been itinerant since Russian incursions in the east of Ukraine forced them out of their home in 2014. They play domestic games in Kyiv but ha