BERLIN, GERMANY Jul 4 —A tribune from the stadium in Kharkiv, destroyed by Russian attacks, was placed in the fan zone near the Reichstag in Berlin, reported the Ukrainian Football Association.

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.

President of the German Bundestag Bärbel Bas and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev opened the installation.

The tribune is presented with an interactive installation: visitors can find themselves at the stadium in real-time to see how it looks after the Russian attack and hear its history. The installation also raises money to organize a camp for children of fallen Ukrainian soldiers who were football fans.

“This tribune is a reminder that not far from here, Russia is committing genocide every day, and even football is not immune to it,” said the Ukraine’s ambassador.

In her speech, the Bundestag President also emphasized that at the same time as the football matches are played in Europe, Russian aggression is causing destruction nearby.

Kostiantyn Ananchenko, the head of the Department of Youth and Sports Affairs of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said that Russian armed aggression damaged or destroyed 49 sports facilities, and their restoration needs more than $25 million.

Read more