Leaders of the Ukrainian Vbet League, Donetsk's "Shakhtar" and Kyiv's "Dynamo," have launched charity tours during which they will play friendly matches against European clubs. The main goal of these events is to raise funds for humanitarian aid to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people suffering as a result of Russian aggression.

"Shakhtar" kicked off their Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace with a match against "Olympiacos," which took place in Athens. The miners lost to the Greeks 0-1. Players from Ukraine's national team, who were called up in November, participated in this game — namely Mykola Matviyenko and Taras Stepanenko.

Players from both teams came out onto the field wearing shirts with "STOP WAR" written on them. On the backs of Shakhtar players' jerseys were names of Ukrainian cities-heroes that have suffered from military action, while they held flags of Ukraine in their hands. The match began with a minute's silence to remember the victims of war in Ukraine.

Photo shakhtar.com

Shakhtar still has at least three charity matches ahead, the nearest of which will be against Polish "Lechia" on April 14.

Charity Match Calendar for Shakhtar

09.04 Olympiacos (Greece) — Shakhtar (Ukraine) — 1:0

14.04 Lechia (Poland) — Shakhtar (Ukraine)

19.04 Fenerbahçe (Turkey) — Shakhtar (Ukraine)

01.05 Hajduk (Croatia) — Shakhtar (Ukraine)

Photo legia.com

"Dynamo" has launched a series of matches with the slogan "Match for Peace! Stop the War!" In their first game, the white-and-blue team beat local Lechia in Warsaw — 3-1. Players who were called up by Oleksandr Petrakov for the last national team training session participated: Georgiy Bushchan, Oleksandr Karavaev, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy (one of the goal scorers), Mykola Shaparenko, Viktor Tsygankov, and Dmytro Harmash.

Throughout the entire match, fans in the stands enthusiastically supported Ukraine; the stadium was painted in blue-and-yellow colors, and patriotic chants supporting our country regularly echoed over the field.

Photo legia.com

Dynamo still has many sparring matches ahead, and currently three of their next opponents are known. Their nearest match will be against Turkish "Galatasaray" on April 14.

Charity Match Calendar for Dynamo

12.04 Lechia (Poland) — Dynamo (Ukraine) — 1:3

14.04 Galatasaray (Turkey) — Dynamo (Ukraine)

26.04 Borussia D (Germany) — Dynamo (Ukraine)

28.04 Dinamo Z (Croatia) — Dynamo (Ukraine)