Ukraine soccer league set for new season as country defies Russian war

Under threat of Russian attacks in a war that stopped all soccer in Ukraine in February, a new league season starts Tuesday in Kyiv with the goal of restoring some sense of normal life.

The elegant Olympic Stadium has staged the biggest European soccer games in the past decade though none as poignant as the opening-day meeting of Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist 1925 from Kharkiv — teams from eastern cities that are fighting for their very existence.

No fans will be allowed in the 65,000-capacity downtown stadium for the 1 p.m. local time kickoff and the players must be rushed to bomb shelters if air-raid sirens sound.

"We are ready, we are strong and I think we will show to all the world Ukrainian life and will to win," the national-team veteran said.

The Ukrainian Premier League returns with the blessing of the nation's leaders and in a week heavy with meaning.

Tuesday is Ukraine's national flag day and Wednesday — Aug. 24 — is the celebration of independence from control by Moscow that the former Soviet Union republic declared in 1991.

"I spoke with our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about how important football is to distract," Ukraine soccer federation president Andriy Pavelko told the AP in June about the commitment to restart. "We spoke about how it would be possible that football could help us to think about the future."

The 16-team league restarts without Desna Chernihiv and Mariupol, teams from cities that have suffered brutal destruction.

All games will be played in and around Kyiv and further west and will be shown domestically, abroad and on YouTube in a deal with broadcaster Setanta agreed last week. The total value of $16.2 million over three years is less than some elite English Premier League players will