Against the backdrop of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the domestic referee Marina Strileckaya was forced to move to Switzerland, where she had the opportunity to work on matches in the third local division and recently was appointed for a qualifier match for the Women's World Cup 2023. Our compatriot shared how she is carrying out her duties now.

"For two hours of football, I forget everything. About what happened at home. I only see defenders and attackers and make decisions. It's good that for at least two hours I can stop thinking about the war…

To be honest, when packing my bags, I was crying a lot and couldn't believe I had to leave. This is already the second time because I'm from Donbas. When we left in 2014, it was difficult. A month or two were very hard emotionally. But back then things were relatively okay — I came to Dnipro, understood that this was Ukraine. I found work there and served games in the Ukrainian championship. Everything was relatively good, except my parents stayed on Donbas. And now I don't want to leave my country. I love it, I want to live in Ukraine.

My grandmother on my father's side is from Russia, Siberia. You could say that I'm half-Russian. But they awakened such a feeling of hatred that I couldn't even imagine being able to hate someone so much.

My sister tried to help me with these negative emotions, the hatred that lived and pulsed in my blood constantly. And she really helped me because within about a week I started feeling better. But I didn't feel any emotions — just walked around like some empty body.

Luciano Luci wrote a letter to the Swiss Football Association asking them to appoint me for some games. Last Saturday, I had a third division match. The system in Switzerland is slightly different — they appoint referees for an entire month. So every weekend I have a game.

Kateryna Monzul is having a hard time now — I talk to her every day, see how difficult it is for her emotionally. Maybe because she has parents there. Maybe because Kharkiv suffered more. It's ruined, I see on video. This is horror.

Russians should feel our pain. Great thanks to UEFA and FIFA that they made it so Russian teams can't play and referees — can't judge. They say "beyond politics," but they chose this president, they are for him. Yes, they don't feel their loved ones dying. But they need to realize that they are exiles.

Our people — unbreakable. This is what I've seen for more than a month now. I want all of us to hold on. I want one day we'll meet and drink a glass of champagne for victory. Hold on, because everything will be Ukraine again. Glory to Ukraine!" — Marina Strileckaya said in the television program "Football NEWS".