On Sunday, Russia escalated its aerial bombardment of Kyiv, launching a major wave of missile and drone attacks. On Monday, 10 people were injured when an art academy and exhibition hall were demolished in an airstrike. On Tuesday, Mykhailo Mudryk’s late winner secured for Ukraine a place at Euro 2024, sealing a 2-1 victory against Iceland in the Uefa Path B playoff.
One of these things, evidently, is not like the others. And yet nor does Ukraine’s qualification for their first major tournament since the beginning of their war with Russia feel like a mere triviality or footnote. On a night of high drama, high emotion and ultimately high celebration, these players – and the thousands of fans who had followed them here – recognised that something more was at stake.
