For most of Serge Baltacha’s life, he’s counted the neighbours to the north of his Ukrainian homeland like brothers. Not any more.
They shared dressing rooms, toasted victories and won medals together competing under a Soviet banner.
But now when the former St Johnstone and Inverness Caley Thistle legend looks at the images of Russia and the devastation they have brought in his home town of Mariupol, he struggles to comprehend what they have become.
“It’s very emotional when I see the pictures of Mariupol,” said the 64-year-old, a runner-up at Euro 88 and a bronze medalist at the Moscow Olympics two years later.
“I was born there. It was my home for the first 13 years of my life before I moved to the sporting academy at Kharkiv.
“That is a place I know well too. But what the Russians have done to both cities is unbelievable. They’ve destroyed them.
“Of course it makes you angry. I can’t understand why they’re doing this.
“We used to be one country. The Russians used to be our brothers. They were my team-mates in the Soviet national team.
“Now their soldiers are killing my people.
“You can’t explain this.
“So yes, I’m angry. I’m angry like all Ukrainian people. But that makes us all the more determined to fight.
“Three months ago when the war started it was the Kremlin against Ukraine.
“But now after three months, I’m sure a lot of the Russian people really know what is going on.
“They called it a Special Military Operation but they know it’s bullsh*t. Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.
“People in Russia know what’s happening - they are killing children, they are killing women.
“Even an idiot can understand this is a war against an innocent nation.
“I have a lot of Russian friends who call to say sorry. They are embarrassed to be Russian.
“But by staying quiet they are part of this. It’s that simple.
“We will never get back to the old days of how it was between Russia and Ukraine. We used to be part of the same family. Not now. Not ever again.
“We Ukrainians have not done anything wrong. We didn’t invade. All we’re doing is defending our own lands, our country, our children.”
Former Dynamo Kyiv ace Baltacha - warmly remembered by Saints fans as their greatest ever defender after moving to McDiarmid from Ipswich in 1990 - is mercifully safe and living thousands of miles from the conflict.
He’s now based in London, where he works for Chartlon’s youth academy.
He’ll be travelling to Glasgow next week to join his son, former St Mirren and Scotland Under-21 defender Sergei Jnr, at Hampden for Ukraine’s World Cup play-off with Scotland.
In football terms, it’s a huge clash as both teams put their Qatar dreams on the line.
But compared to what his big brother Georgi is going through, it doesn’t come close.
Balatcha - who spent three years in Perth before moving to the Highlands in 1993 - said: “My brother still lives in Kyiv. The fighting has stopped in the city as the Russians have moved east but if needed he will be ready.
“He’s 67. He’s ex-military.
“At his age, he should be looking to enjoy his life but this is the situation that has happened.
“He’s got his Kalashnikov and he will defend our country if needed.
“He’s so proud of our country and he wants to help. We all do.
“Even those of us who do not live in Ukraine any longer. I try to do the same with the people who have escaped and come to London. They have lost a lot. Homes, possessions, everything.
“You can’t imagine what that’s like but I think that’s why Ukraine is now too strong because everyone is pulling together to help each other.”
The world has united in a show of unity since Putin’s forces first mounted their illegal incursion back in February, flattening cities and devastating lives every step along the way.
Sadly, the football calendar doesn’t halt even in the face of such atrocities and Ukraine’s football heroes will be forced to put the horrors at home to one side on Wednesday and instead somehow try to focus on a game of football.
It seems trivial to be kicking a ball about when a nation is being bombarded just the other side of Europe but that is the position both teams are now being asked to put themselves in.
And Balatcha has as much sympathy for the Scottish squad in this situation as he does his own team.
“I’m heading up to Glasgow next week to watch the match with my oldest son Sergei,” he said.
“It will be very emotional.
“It will be so difficult for the players.
“Every day, they must be thinking about the war. They will have family back there, children too.
“In these circumstances, football becomes secondary. It’s not important when you consider what’s happening.
“But these guys are professionals and they need to perform because the Ukraninan people still want them to succeed. It can motivate them.
“We all want to see the team reach the World Cup.
“The people who are fighting and dying for our country, they love football and the national team.
“The situation is so dark at home but the team can give them hope.
“It will be difficult for the team, though. The team is going to Scotland but the way the Scottish people have supported Ukraine has been incredible.
“The whole world will be on Ukraine’s side but for two hours the Scottish people will be against them from a football point of view.
“But I think there will be lots of Ukraine flags amongst the Scotland supporters too.
“There will be a winner and a loser but this is also a chance to show unity.
“It will be very emotional. It will be a very difficult game for the Ukrainian boys, but also very difficult for the Scottish boys too.
“It will be difficult for my son Sergei too. He was born in Kyiv but his children are Scottish. It’s not important who he supports, what’s important is that he gets to see both teams play because if Russia had their way, there would be no Ukraine national team.
“My son feels Scottish, so did my late daughter Elena. So do I because I spent a long time living up there. It’s my country too.”
