On October 2, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Territorial Defense. At the initiative of the Ukrainian Football Association (UFA), a friendly match took place on the artificial field named after V. Bannikov between teams from UAF and the 127th battalion of TO.

The main referee for the match was appointed as Dmitry Kubryak, who was recently released from captivity where he had been held as a volunteer doctor at "Azovstal." Now, after five months in the notorious Olenivka prison camp, with permission from doctors and his own request, Dmitry refereed the teams on the field. His assistants were Dmitro Komornikov and Yevgen Danilenko. Participants included representatives of Ukraine's veterans team, former national team players Vladyslav Vasyuk, Vitaliy Lysytskyi, Serhiy Fedorov, Oleksandr Romanchuk, and Edmar, who returned to our country despite the war.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

“On the Day of Territorial Defense in Ukraine, we bow to you and all representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for your heroism, making it possible to hold such events. Warmest greetings from UAF President Andriy Pavelka, UEFA Executive Committee member. Thank you each and every one of you! We believe in our joint victory!” — said First Vice-President of UAF Vadim Kostyuchenko, congratulating the match participants and representatives of TO who came to cheer for their comrades.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

“We highly appreciate your heroism and are proud of you! Such matches during the war demonstrate not only the unbreakable spirit of the Armed Forces but also all Ukrainians. We will definitely win this war. And to the participants of the match, I wish an interesting and meaningful game.” — noted Assistant Head Coach of Ukraine's national team, legendary goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy before the whistle.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In turn, Senior Lieutenant of the 127th battalion of TO Igor Mazur thanked UAF for fruitful cooperation: “Back in 2015, I first participated in a similar match that took place in Mariupol. All these years we have been cooperating fruitfully with UFA. And I am confident that such a game will be held again soon not only in Mariupol but also at the 'Donbass Arena' in Donetsk. Happy holiday to everyone! Glory to Ukraine!”

From the hands of First Vice-Presidents of UAF Anatoliy Demianenko and Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko, as well as Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, individual football players-soldiers received commemorative awards from UAF. And all participants in the match received souvenir products and balls from UAF for their units.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

The game itself turned out to be quite meaningful and very fair. The score of 6-6 eloquently testified that those who directly participated in the match were satisfied, as well as those who watched its course from the stands.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov