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

This time, 'Dynamo' has traveled to Istanbul, where it continued its tour under the name 'Match for Peace!', whose aim is to inform the international community about the horrific war in Ukraine and raise funds to support Ukrainians who have suffered from the Russian aggressor.

In the game against the local 'Galatasaray', which ended with a victory for the blue-and-whites by 3-1, Dynamo players came out onto the field with Ukrainian flags. 

Photo fcdynamo.com

The match was attended by national team players from Oleksandr Petrakov's November list: Georgiy Bushchan, Oleksandr Karavaev, Illia Zabarnyi, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Mykola Shaparenko, Vitaliy Buyalskyi (author of one of the goals), Viktor Tsygankov (author of one of the goals) and Dmytro Harmash.

Ahead of 'Dynamo' are many sparring matches, with their next encounter scheduled against Romanian CFR on April 20th.

Charity Match Schedule for Dynamo

12.04 'Legia' (Poland) — 'Dynamo' (Ukraine) — 1:3

14.04 'Galatasaray' (Turkey) — 'Dynamo' (Ukraine) — 1:3

20.04 CFR (Romania) — 'Dynamo' (Ukraine)

26.04 'Borussia' D (Germany) — 'Dynamo' (Ukraine)

28.04 'Dynamo' Z (Croatia) — 'Dynamo' (Ukraine)

Meanwhile, 'Shakhtar' arrived in Gdansk, where they met the local 'Lechia' and won 3-2. Players from both teams came out onto the field with "STOP WAR" written on their jerseys, while instead of surnames, Shakhtar players had names of Ukrainian hero cities that suffered from military actions. The match began with a minute of silence in memory of those killed in Ukraine's war. Also on the field was a family from Mariupol who evacuated from the city on the day Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine. The man of Varvara died during the defense of Mariupol.

Photo shakhtar.com

At the last minute of the match, a significant substitution took place. Instead of Mykhailo Mudryk, 12-year-old Dmytro Keda came onto the field. He and his family spent three weeks in besieged Mariupol but managed to leave the city. This boy became the hero of the meeting — after a solo run he outmaneuvered the goalkeeper and scored Shakhtar's winning goal.

Photo shakhtar.com

Participating in this match were players from the national team who were called up to the national squad in November, namely — Andriy Pyatov, Mykola Matviyenko and Taras Stepanenko. By the way, the main referee of the match from the 50th minute until full-time was Ukrainian Dmitro Krivushkin, who is currently temporarily working in Poland. Our referee replaced Pole Szymon Marciniak, who only on Tuesday refereed the quarter-final Champions League match between 'Real' — 'Chelsea' (2:3).

All proceeds from ticket sales and advertising at Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace matches will be donated to Ukrainian defenders, volunteer organizations, medical personnel, as well as directed towards helping Ukrainian children who have suffered from the war. Ahead of 'Shakhtar' are at least two more charitable matches, with their next one against Turkish 'Fenerbahçe' on April 19th.

Charity Match Schedule for Shakhtar

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

14.04 'Lechia' (Poland) — 'Shakhtar' (Ukraine) — 2:3

19.04 'Fenerbahçe' (Turkey) — 'Shakhtar' (Ukraine)

01.05 'Hajduk' (Croatia) — 'Shakhtar' (Ukraine)