Displaced Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk will host their Champions League home fixtures at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge this season, beginning on Wednesday against AEK Athens. The arrangement turns the London venue into an adopted European base for the club and a gathering point for the Ukrainian community in Britain.
The team has been unable to play in Donetsk since Russian-backed forces seized the city in 2014, leading to a nomadic existence across Ukraine—including Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv—as well as European venues in Poland, Slovenia, and Germany. Ongoing hostilities continue to disrupt operations; the club recently relocated its under-12 squad within Kyiv following attacks, while a nearby drone strike interrupted a fixture played by their women's side.
Club chief executive Sergei Palkin stressed that the team carries a wider mission during its fixtures abroad. "Every day when our team goes to the pitch, it's much more than football because behind it we have a lot of challenges every day," Palkin said. He added: "For Ukraine, it's very important to be visible at this moment of our history. And for us it's very important because we are playing for our nation."
Playing in the British capital offers Shakhtar direct access to a sizeable diaspora. Roughly 265,000 Ukrainians have taken refuge in the United Kingdom following the 2022 invasion. Supporters across the country, including those living in Kent and the West Midlands, have bought four-game passes for the European fixtures, bringing together fans who historically backed rival clubs such as Dynamo Kyiv.
"The hooligans don't fight any more with each other because they know they have one enemy and it's not the football enemy," said Artem Genne, a displaced Shakhtar supporter who now lives in the West Midlands and plans to attend all four London matches.
Travelling directly from Ukraine to London remains prohibitive for most fans due to travel barriers, including a £135 visa fee and a minimum three-month application timeframe. While domestic fans follow the campaign in pubs at home, UK-based Ukrainians are stepping in to fill the stadium. Shakhtar's recent appearances in England, including fixtures against Arsenal in the 2024-25 Champions League and Crystal Palace in last season's Europa Conference League semi-finals, saw their ticket allocations sell out in an hour.
Beyond the matches, the club plans to connect with the local diaspora by visiting schools and hosting Ukrainian children at training sessions, while supporters use match gatherings to organise fundraising efforts for medical kits and equipment for Ukraine.
