“How can I forget that day … I was in Moscow, I slept. My children woke me up: ‘Dad, it’s war.’ My first reaction was, ‘What war? let me sleep!’ I then turned on the phone. And had as many messages on it as I usually do on my birthday. Then I turned on the TV and the unbelievable happened.”
February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also turned the life of former Bundesliga professional Andriy Voronin and former Ukraine international upside down. The 43-year-old completed 74 international matches for his home country.
As an assistant coach at Dynamo Moscow, Voronin, who played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha BSC and Fortuna Düsseldorf, on the first day of the war, fled Russia with his family and dog to his second home in Düsseldorf.
Ask: One year war against Ukraine.
Andriy Voronin: Still unbelievable that it happened at all. And it’s been twelve months now. What the people in Ukraine had to endure during this time… Our cities, the dead civilians, the children, women. No electricity, no water for a long time… If someone had predicted that this would happen to my country, I would have bet anything against it.
Ask: How has your view of Russia changed since then?
Voronin: How can a person be happy when children die from bombing raids? I can’t imagine anything like that. But these people exist in Russia. Every normal person must be against war.
Ask: You also had many Russian friends before the war.
Voronin: Contact with many has simply been lost. But I got and still get comments from Russians berating me: “You Ar… you were happy to take our money. And now you’re against us.” Hey, that was a job in Moscow. That does not prohibit my opinion against the Russian war.
Ask: How do Russians feel about the war?
Voronin: There are also people who write that they oppose the war and wish everything to stop quickly. But one thing is clear: I cannot forgive the Russians responsible for this war. All Ukrainians think so. Russians and Ukrainians – we were more than neighbors. Every family has relatives on the other side. That’s why it hurts even more. Perhaps that’s why Russian propaganda is now trying to reinterpret the war: It’s not at all against Ukraine, but against NATO. Allegedly, NATO wants to destroy Russia, it only wants the raw materials, oil and gas. Bla bla bla! But many people in Russia believe that.
This is how the training for new recruits near Kiev works
In order to defend itself in the war against Russia, Ukraine needs a lot of weapons – artillery, missiles, fighter planes. But one thing Kiev also needs: more soldiers. WELT reporter Steffen Schwarzkopf was able to take a closer look at the training of the new recruits.
Source: WELT/ Steffen Schwarzkopf
Ask: After the war broke out, you said in an interview with BILD: “In just two or three months, all our cities could look like Mariupol now. Wiped out.” But: Ukraine still exists.
Voronin: If you compare the armies of both countries at the beginning of the war – nobody, really nobody, expected us to resist. It’s unbelievable how our people fought just at the beginning. With baseball bats, just everything that was there. A friend of mine sent his family away and said, “I’m staying. And if they come, I’ll take two of them with me.” That’s how the Ukrainians are. Now we can be thankful that the USA, Germany, France are giving us weapons and money. And so, with God’s help, we will also win the war. People keep dying. But it has to come to an end. Not more dead and destroyed cities like Mariupol, Bakhmut, Cherson.
Ask: A year ago, hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Germany against the Russian war of aggression. Now people are demonstrating against arms deliveries to Ukraine and for a “peace” with Russia.
Voronin: I want to say to the people who still support us: Thank you! And the others: Everyone has their own life, and of course everyone is fed up. In Europe, prices are exploding, there is inflation and uncertainty. But please: In Ukraine, people are killed by Russian bombs every day. We all want peace. But that’s just not possible with Russia at the moment. If Putin is gone, then maybe.
Ask: Will you return to Ukraine?
Voronin: In any case. I dream, hope, pray that the war will be over, that I can go with the children to where I was born. My mother died shortly before the war began. I haven’t been to her grave for 14 months. It’s so sad, I’m crying. I want to visit her – even if it’s only in the cemetery.
Ask: How can this war end?
Voronin: I ask myself this question every day. And can’t find an answer. We all hope this happens as soon as possible. That we get our cities back. But no one knows how long it will take, how many people will have to die for it. Not even the good Lord.
The interview was conducted for the sports competence center (“WELT”, “Sport Bild”, “Bild”) and first published in “Bild am Sonntag”.
“Ukraine has a clear advantage tactically, operationally and strategically”
“Things have gotten completely bogged down,” said General Roland Kather, analyzing the situation in Ukraine. He doesn’t see either side ready for peace negotiations. Russia is only superior to Ukraine in one respect.
