
As soon as the air raid sirens had stopped, Shakhtar Donetsk's players ran out onto the pitch for their final training session on Monday before Ukraine begins an extraordinary new season of its national soccer league.
As Ukrainian soldiers battle Russian forces in the east and south, Shakhtar are due to play Metalist 1925 from the embattled eastern city of Kharkiv in the opening game of Ukraine's Premier League at 1000 GMT on Tuesday.