Stadiums under occupation: how sports facilities in Donbas are operating and what they look like today – photos, video

The Russo-Ukrainian war began on 20 February 2014 after the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv resulted in the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych and his flight from Ukraine to Russia.  It was then that Russian special forces seized the Crimean parliament building, and on 12 April, militants under the command of Igor Strelkov (real surname Girkin), a former FSB officer and leader of the paramilitary forces of the DPR (the Donetsk People’s Republic, a self-proclaimed and non-recognised state formation in Donetsk Oblast), occupied the city of Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast. The fighting began to spread across the Donbas region, and sports began to take a back seat.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to liberate some towns and villages, and Russian fighters, with the support of the official Russian army, regained control of some settlements. In Luhansk, Donetsk and other Ukrainian cities of Donbas, the Ukrainian anthem has not been played for more than 10 years; football stands are silent and major sporting events have not taken place.

What follows is a dive into the realities of the temporarily occupied territories to survey the fate of sports arenas across Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which have been living with the hope that civilisation and prosperity will return to them, along with great sport.

Avanhard Stadium (Luhansk)

This sports complex was built in 1951 and since then the stadium has undergone two reconstructions, the last of which took place in 2011. At that time, the Football Federation of Ukraine decided to ban matches at the stadium after the Zoria vs Volyn match, when the pitch looked more like a swamp.

In 2012, Avanhard hosted the Ukrainian Super Cup match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalurh, in which Shakhtar won 2-0. Zoria played their last match at home on 27 April 2014, after which they were forced to leave Luhansk.

In the same year, the stadium was damaged by attacks during a Russian breakthrough on the outskirts of the city. For a long time, no one repaired the pitch and stands, but shouldn't we eventually create a picture of "universal happiness"? Yes, we should, so the curators from Russia repaired the damaged stands, replaced a Ukrainian letter in the word "Zoria" with a Russian one, and started to hold the "LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) Championship" at Avanhard stadium.

In 2022, local authorities announced plans to demolish the stadium and build a new arena in its place.

The stadium is occasionally maintained and sometimes used for concerts. However, instead of international stars like Rihanna and Jovovich, it now hosts pro-war Russian performers such as the rock band CHAIF and singer Yulia Chicherina. Rather than matches featuring Barcelona or Arsenal, it serves only as a stage for Russian propaganda.

Shakhtar played their last home match on 2 May 2014. It is highly symbolic that their opponent was Mariupol, a team that not only lost its stadium due to the Russian invasion, but was also left without a city.

Volodymyr Boiko Stadium (Mariupol)

This is another Ukrainian stadium built in the 1950s. Since its construction in 1956, it has hosted the home matches of Mariupol, a team that was known at different times as Illichivets and Metalurh.

Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, the stadium has been under constant attack, resulting in the destruction of most of the administrative buildings. The pitch and stands were also damaged.

In addition to being a place to present the pathetic videos of the Russian Espanyol brigade, the stadium is now used as a warehouse for storing military equipment and ammunition. The Russian authorities have declared their intention to repair the stadium and even want to hold matches there, but based on the example of Luhansk's Avanhard, we want to believe that by the time the Russians get around to doing so, they will be long gone from long-suffering Mariupol.

Peremoha Stadium (Kadiivka, Luhansk Oblast)

This stadium, which could accommodate up to 7,000 fans, was built in 1921. Before the war, the football clubs Stakhanov (after the city's old name) and Viktoriia played their matches there.

In addition to football, the stadium annually hosted an amateur men's singles tennis tournament. However, all sports left Peremoha with the arrival of the Russians in 2014.

Like most of these arenas, the Russian Armed Forces used the territory to store military equipment and shells and as a place for temporary accommodation of personnel. These decisions led to the partial destruction of the stadium in the summer of 2022, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit Peremoha, killing about a hundred PMC Wagner fighters.

Since then, the stadium has been ruined, and the Russian military is now looking for other civilian places to hide their terrorists.

Khimik Stadium (Siverskodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast)

The stadium was built in 1951 for the local club of the same name, which played in the lower divisions of the USSR and Ukraine. In addition to football, the sports facility also hosted children's boxing, athletics and kickboxing sections.

Until 2022, the arena hosted football matches of the Luhansk Oblast Football Championship and concerts on the occasion of national holidays. However, all this stopped with the new outbreak of the war on 24 February 2022.

In the course of urban warfare and bombardments with all possible non-nuclear weapons, the Khimik was partially destroyed and, until 2024, no one paid attention to it at all.

Last summer, the Russian authorities announced their intention to rebuild the arena and even began dismantling the old stands - an interesting approach by officials who cannot run more than one boiler house in a destroyed city. However, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin said that the restoration of Khimik is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Metalurh Stadium (Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast)

This is another stadium in a provincial town in Donbas that has effectively ceased to exist. The facility was commissioned in 1949 and last renovated in 2012.

Prior to the full-scale war, Metalurh hosted various municipal and sporting events, including the Ukrainian Youth Athletics Championships in 2018. Avanhard Kramatorsk sometimes played its home matches at the stadium when the Prapor Stadium was undergoing renovation.

During the active hostilities of 2022-2023, the stadium was almost completely destroyed, along with 80% of the city. In addition to the football field, there was an athletics arena on the territory of the building, which the Russian forces had repaired and began to use as a place to store equipment. However, in the spring of 2024, a Storm Shadow missile struck the arena, and since then, it has remained in ruins.

There are many other sports arenas in Donbas that have not been used for their intended purpose since 2014, such as the Metalurh Stadium in Donetsk, Shakhtar Stadium in Khrustalne or Kolos Stadium in Starobilsk.

We want to believe that sports, the noise of the fans and the joy of athletes who will win their first big victories in the provincial arenas of Ukraine will return to them.

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