Andriy Shevchenko visits the ruined centre of Borodyanka, near Kyiv<\/p>\n
O<\/span>n the morning of 24 February 2022 \u2013 a date etched in every Ukrainian\u2019s mind \u2013 Andriy Shevchenko was woken by a phone call from his mother. She told him through tears that Russia was invading. Shevchenko was in London, where he lives with his wife and four sons; his mother and wider family were in Ukraine, under attack.<\/p>\n Shevchenko has barely slept ever since. \u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be almost two years since the full war started, and every day I wake up, check the phone \u2013 what\u2019s the news? Are we going to be attacked in Kyiv? Are we going to be attacked in a different city? How many drones? How many rockets? Where have the rockets hit? And then, talking to my friends \u2013 who\u2019s dead? It\u2019s a normal day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Shevchenko is using his platform as one of Europe\u2019s greatest footballers, a Ballon d\u2019Or winner and a Chelsea cult hero to keep the spotlight on Ukraine at a time when the world\u2019s attention has turned to the Middle East. In the West, the initial shock caused by Russia\u2019s invasion has subsided, and a sense of normalisation has crept in. He is understandably worried that Ukraine\u2019s cause might be forgotten.<\/p>\n