Jeremain Lens sympathizes with David Neres and everyone in Ukraine. The attacker made the switch from Ajax to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine in January, unaware that Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing a raid in the neighboring country. Lens played for rival Dynamo Kiev between 2013 and 2015 and thinks the invasion is ‘terrible to watch’. “David will probably think: if only I had never gone there. I don’t know him personally, but of course pray that he manages to leave the country safely,” the 34-year-old attacker said on Saturday. The Telegraph†
Shakhtar’s roster is stuck at a hotel in Kiev, where heavy fighting was reported on the night from Friday to Saturday. Russian troops attacked an army base in the capital, but the attack was repulsed, the Ukrainian army said. Earlier, an eyewitness reported Reuters although regular artillery explosions could be heard coming from an unspecified location some distance from the city center. There were also reports of gunfire and fighting in the outskirts of the city. Russia also allegedly tried to drop paratroopers.
Neres this week asked the Brazilian government along with his 11 compatriots from Shakhtar for help. “The situation is one of despair. We ask that you distribute this video so that it reaches the Brazilian government. Borders are closed, banks are closed, there is no fuel, there will be a shortage of food, there is no money. We have gathered in anticipation of a plan to leave Ukraine. The situation is serious. Pray for us.”
Lens thinks the situation in Ukraine is terrible for everyone. “The video of the father having to say goodbye to his children to serve in the army is heartbreaking. I hope everyone is safe. Neres and the Dutch football players in Ukraine, Rodney Antwi and Hennos Asmelash, give the suffering a familiar face. (…) Even before his first game, David is already in serious trouble.”
Lens, who has been rented out by Besiktas to competitor Fatih Karagümrük, never felt very unsafe in his first year in Ukraine. “From March 2014, unrest increased as Russia annexed Crimea. Suddenly we played seventy percent of our matches in our own stadium, because traveling to the east of the country was no longer possible. Due to the many anti-Russian protests, the tensions were increasingly palpable.”
Lens eventually made the switch to Dick Advocaat’s Sunderland. His thoughts are also with two former Dynamo teammates: Denys Garmas and Sergiy Sydurchuk. “Two guys who now play for Dynamo Kiev and already did in my time. I haven’t spoken to them since I left Ukraine, but of course I feel very sorry for them. When I see the terrifying images from Kiev, Denys and Sergiy run through my head. I really hope everything goes well with them. And for the whole of Ukraine that the war does not escalate further, but calm returns soon.”