Domestic football in Ukraine returned on Tuesday for the first time since Russia invaded the nation in February earlier this year.
The return of league football coincides with Ukraine's national flag day and precedes Ukraine Independence Day, 24 August (when the nation declared independence from the former Soviet Union republic in 1991), after a six-month enforced shutdown. The league season commenced with Shakhtar Donetsk playing Metalist 1925 from Kharkiv – two clubs from cities in the east of Ukraine, which have been at the heart of the conflict.
Kyiv's Olympic Stadium, which hosted the Euro 2012 final and the 2018 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, was the setting for the clash, ahead of a further three matches in the division on Tuesday.
