"I've become even stronger," the athlete noted. And this phrase could be echoed by millions of Ukrainians.
Despite all the difficulties, football life in Ukraine continues. On 28 March, the next round of the Ukrainian football championship will start, and on 30 March, Chornomorets will take to the pitch in Lviv to play against local team, Karpaty. Chijioke Aniagboso is actively learning Ukrainian. He says that in almost two years in Ukraine, he has never heard racist remarks, and Ukrainians are very friendly to him. Despite the war and the threat of air attacks, the Nigerian footballer has no plans to flee the country.
Russia's war against Ukraine has affected all spheres of life in the country, including sport. Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, more than 300 people from the football community have been killed, according to the Ukrainian Football Association. In some regions close to the front line, football matches are not held at all. In the rest of the country, games have to be interrupted due to air raid alerts. Sometimes, interrupted matches cannot take place for six months.
Despite the risk, more and more foreign players are playing in the Ukrainian championship. In February, the number of legionnaires in the Ukrainian Premier League exceeded 100 players for the first time in 11 years. Nigerian goalkeeper, Aniagboso Chijioke Kingsley, has been playing for Ukrainian clubs for almost two years. The footballer told Premium Times why he was not afraid to move to Ukraine during the war and how he appeared under a Russian missile attack.
Chijoke Anyiagboso, a 20-year-old Nigerian footballer, was in bed in a room at the five-star Bristol Hotel in Odesa, a Ukrainian port and resort city in southern Ukraine. He had almost fallen asleep when an explosion hit and the walls shook violently.
"The building was shaking so I had to run downstairs to the shelter and when I came outside, I noticed that the hotel had been hit," says Chijoke Anyiagboso.
On 31 January, Russia launched ballistic missiles to the centre of Odesa. The Bristol Hotel, where Chijoke Anyiagboso lived, was also attacked. The fact that the Russian military personnel damages civilian buildings with missiles was not a surprise to those who have been following Russia's war against Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian military has attacked hotels 32 times, according to the report of the Ukrainian media, Slovo i Dilo.
31 December 2022. Russia launched missiles at Kyiv. One of them hit the Alfavito hotel. The explosion destroyed part of the facade and smashed windows in the building. The attack killed two people and injured more than 20.
24 August 2024. Russia destroyed the Sapphire Hotel in the frontline city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, with a missile. A Reuters film crew was among the hotel guests. One person was killed and eight others were injured.
5 March 2025. Russia attacked the Central Hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rih. Five people were killed and 22 others were injured.
Despite the numerous photos and videos of the aftermath of the attacks on civilian targets, Russia either denies such hits or finds military justifications for them. For example, after the attack on the Bristol Hotel, the anonymous Telegram channel, "Military Observer," whose authors justify Russian aggression against Ukraine, wrote that French military intelligence officers had lived in this hotel. Neither the authors of this resource nor the Russian Ministry of Defence provided any evidence to support their claims.
Chijioke Aniagboso could no longer get into his room. A few days later, the hotel crew returned his belongings to him. After the hotel was attacked, the footballer had to talk to many of his relatives and friends. He even recorded a video to prove that he was unharmed.
Chijioke first played for Polissia Football Club in Zhytomyr, a city in central Ukraine. In September 2024, he got a transfer to Chornomorets football club in Odesa. This city is much more dangerous than Zhytomyr, as is evident from the statistics of air raids there. Between 24 February 2022 and 19 March 2025, 1351 alarms were sounded in Zhytomyr region, and 1975 in Odesa region, according to the Air-Alarms.in.ua service.
Chijioke came to Ukraine in the summer of 2023. Russia's war against Ukraine has been going on for nine years -- since the occupation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On 24 February 2022, Russia expanded its invasion zone, attempting to seize the rest of the country. Since then, there has not been a single safe place left in the whole of Ukraine. Some districts have been occupied or divided by the front line. Other regions are regularly shelled by Russia with drones and missiles.
Chijoke Aniagboso knew about the threat, but still made a deal with the Ukrainian club.
"I decided to come because I needed to be developed and also understand the way of European football. And I ask questions of former Nigerian players that have played in Ukraine. They told me that Ukraine was the place where I could play and get developed," he explained.
Chijioke first played for Polissia Football Club in Zhytomyr, a city in central Ukraine. In September 2024, he got a transfer to Chornomorets football club in Odesa. This city is much more dangerous than Zhytomyr, as is evident from the statistics of air raids there. Between 24 February 2022 and 19 March 2025, 1351 alarms were sounded in Zhytomyr region, and 1975 in Odesa region, according to the Air-Alarms.in.ua service. Odesa is regularly hit by Russia, because it is located on the Black Sea coast. Russia regularly attacks port infrastructure to prevent the export of Ukrainian products, including grains, that is provided for African countries.
"At the first time I came to Odessa, I was a bit scared. But I have to behave as a man because I see some of my teammates here also. So if my teammates can survive in Odessa, so also can I survive," the Nigerian footballer believes.
Chijoke Aniagboso jokes that it is much harder for him to adapt to the Ukrainian weather than to life in war. The warm temperature can change to cold abruptly.
Russia's war has affected all aspects of life in Ukraine. And sports is no exception. The Ukrainian Football Association's website has a Memorial page, with the names of more than 300 people from the football community who died defending Ukraine. But this list is incomplete, because it does not include people who are officially missing.
Roman Moskaliuk was a former player for the Ukrainian teams, Volyn, Dnipro, Dynamo and the national team. He joined the Ukrainian army and became a soldier serving in the Sicheslav Air Assault Brigade. He communicated with his wife for the last time on 30 January. Roman said that he was on the frontline, where the fiercest fighting was taking place -- near the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region. The soldiers told him that he might not be able to communicate with her for a long time. Subsequently, Roman Moskaliuk was officially added to the list of missing persons.
Vadym Sheviakin, a Ukrainian football commentator and journalist for Megogo TV channel, recalls the story of his friend, Denys Stolyarchuk, a fan of Obolon Kyiv football club. Denys has been missing for six months.
"Denys is unique -- he hasn't missed a single game for 10 and a half seasons, neither at home nor away. This is called 10 golden seasons, without missing a game. I'm not sure that there have been any such examples in the Ukrainian fan community. Such people are called groundhoppers -- they try to attend as many matches as possible. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of Ukrainian football. I loved sitting in the pub with him and chatting about football. The military commissioners took him after one of the games -- in Lviv. He went through training and disappeared in the Kharkiv region in two or three weeks," says Vadym Sheviakin.
Sports facilities in Kharkiv, the second largest city in northeastern Ukraine, 40 kilometres from the Russian border, were particularly heavily damaged. In March 2022, Russian pilots dropped several bombs on the Unifecht sports complex, where fencers were being trained. And on the night of 2 September of the same year, Russia attacked the Lokomotyv Sports Palace with an S-300 missile. This was the training base for the Ukrainian synchronised swimming team.
The damage of stadiums and training grounds as a result of Russian shelling has become another challenge for athletes. On 28 February, the Russian military attacked the training base of the Chernomorets club, where Chijioke Aniagboso plays. The complex is located in the cottage village of Sauvignon on the Black Sea coast. The club's administration reported that the blast wave smashed the windows in the team's swimming pool, and the administrative building was also damaged.
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Sports facilities in Kharkiv, the second largest city in northeastern Ukraine, 40 kilometres from the Russian border, were particularly heavily damaged. In March 2022, Russian pilots dropped several bombs on the Unifecht sports complex, where fencers were being trained. And on the night of 2 September of the same year, Russia attacked the Lokomotyv Sports Palace with an S-300 missile. This was the training base for the Ukrainian synchronised swimming team.
In Kharkiv, professional football matches are not being held at all because of the danger of air strikes. There are also no games in Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia. In other cities, matches often have to be interrupted due to air raids.
"The Kryvbas team from Kryvyi Rih has several football matches left to play. Recently there was a game with the Livyi Bereh team. The players had been on the pitch for two minutes when the air raid alarm sounded. Everyone waited for several hours and then teams agreed to play the match the next day.
But for six months now, Kryvbas' match against Shakhtar has been unplayed. It was interrupted, and the teams can't agree on another date -- Shakhtar has a rather tight schedule," says Vadym Sheviakin.
But there can be other situations. On 6 March, the local LNZ club played against Dynamo Kyiv, in the city of Cherkasy in central Ukraine. An air raid alarm sounded in the 90th minute of the match. The administration asked the spectators to go to the shelter, but the referee decided not to stop the game. The teams played the last two minutes to the sound of sirens.
Despite all the difficulties, football life in Ukraine continues. On 28 March, the next round of the Ukrainian football championship will start, and on 30 March, Chornomorets will take to the pitch in Lviv to play against local team, Karpaty. Chijioke Aniagboso is actively learning Ukrainian. He says that in almost two years in Ukraine, he has never heard racist remarks, and Ukrainians are very friendly to him. Despite the war and the threat of air attacks, the Nigerian footballer has no plans to flee the country.
"I've become even stronger," the athlete noted. And this phrase could be echoed by millions of Ukrainians.
Grigorii Pyrlik wrote from Ukraine.
