UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Jul 9 — The children of military personnel and Donbas war veterans who play football have traveled to Lithuania. They will attend a Spanish Football Club Barcelona sports camp, reported by the Kharkiv City Council.

The Kharkiv Oblast is the second among Ukrainian regions in terms of the number of children affected by the war. In particular, the Russian army affected 402 children in the Kharkiv region.

The program will include professional training, psychological rehabilitation, and entertainment. The young players will stay in Lithuania until July 13.

Earlier, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov had already emphasized the need for partners to help organize recreation for young Kharkiv residents. 

“Children need a break from constant air raids in a safe environment,” Terekhov said. 

The Ukrainian Football Association reported on July 3 that a tribune from the stadium in Kharkiv, destroyed by Russian attacks, was placed in the fan zone near the Reichstag in Berlin.

Kharkiv was one of four Ukrainian cities to host the European Football Championship in 2012. A new stadium, “Solnechnyi,” was built in preparation for the championship. Russian attacks destroyed it in 2022. As of today, the Russian army has damaged or destroyed 77 football stadiums in Ukraine.

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