Fernando is one of more than a dozen Brazilian players contracted to Shakhtar Donetsk
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Shakhtar Donetsk have confirmed the successful evacuation of the club’s Brazilian players amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Following Russia’s invasion of their neighbours last week, a group of stranded Brazilian players from Shakhtar and rivals Dynamo Kyiv sheltered together with their families in the basement of a Kyiv hotel and made a public plea for a solution to help escape the conflict.
“The situation is one of despair. I ask you to disclose this video so that it reaches the [Brazilian] government,” said Shakhtar defender Marlon Santos.
“Borders are closed, banks [are shut], there is no fuel, there will be a shortage of food, there is no money.”
However, Shakhtar confirmed on Tuesday that their 13 Brazilian players had now been safely evacuated from Ukraine to Moldova and then on to Romania, along with Dynamo Kyiv’s foreign players.
Three Brazilians who represented SK Dnipro-1 left Ukraine for Romania over the weekend, Reuters reports.
The agent of Shakhtar’s teenage defender Vinicius Tobias said the journey out of Ukraine took 16 hours and that the players planned to fly back to Brazil from Bucharest.
"The evacuation of the players was made possible thanks to the personal assistance of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, the Ukrainian Football Association President Andrii Pavelko and the Moldovan Football Federation President Leonid Oleinichenko," Shakhtar said in a statement.
“We want to thank for the assistance everyone who took part in this process.”
