Najeeb Yakubu, a Ghanaian defender who plays for FC Vorskla Poltava in Ukraine, has spoken out about the country’s catastrophic position following Russian forces’ invasion.
In an interview with Citi Sports editor Fentuo Tahiru, Najeeb described the events of Thursday morning’s invasion and spoke about the feeling of helplessness that spread around the city after word of Russia’s raid reached the players.
“Yesterday when I went to training, everything was fine. This morning, I woke up to the news [of the attack]. They sent an emergency message that there wouldn’t be training and that we should stay at home and be safe. I called my friends in the city that was attacked and they said this is not a movie, it’s serious,” he said.
The player verified that most services in his area have come to a halt, with no signs of things improving very soon.
“I am about an hour and a half away from Kharkiv, a city that’s been attacked. We’re just confused and we’re stuck here. Nothing is working; no banks, trains, taxis, airports, or restaurants, nothing. Everything is finished in the shops. We don’t know what to do. We have to move as soon as possible but how can we? We are stuck here.,” he said.
While Najeeb was able to get some groceries and things from the stores before they ran out of stock, he only had enough for three days, according to him.
“There’s not enough [groceries]. You can’t get enough because before you get to the shops, it’s almost done. So, you have to pick a few things and leave some for someone else, so that everyone can get something.”
“[What I have is enough for] maybe two, three days, I think. If they restock, I can go get some more foodstuffs but I really don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after.”
Najeeb stated that evacuating them would be difficult because the nearest border crossing, a Polish crossing, was 15 hours away by bus.
“I don’t know if someone would be willing to sacrifice and take us there. It’s hard, we don’t know what to do,” he said with a sigh.
Source: Citisports
