Ghanaian defender, Najeeb Yakubu who plays his football in Ukraine for FC Vorskla Poltava has called for help over the current situation in Ukraine.
There is a full blown war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday making things very difficult in the Eastern European nation.
Yakubu has been sharing the happenings in Ukraine with Accra based Citi FM, saying that things were normal on Wednesday as they went for training but the following day they were sent messages to stay home and stay safe following news of an invasion by the Russian forces.
He says that there is a sense of chaos, anarchy and helplessness in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion as some friends who live in Kharkiv have been sharing grim experience with him but adds that there is a total shut down of services at where he lives.
“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 United Nations says about 100,000 people have already fled from their homes as Russia continued its land, air and sea attacks and edged closer to the Ukrainian capital.
There have been reports of casualties including a man who was killed in shelling outside the major north-eastern city of Kharkiv, an hour and a half away from where Najeed stays.
“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.
The attack by the Russians prompted a rush to the various supermarkets, as residents in Ukraine stocked up for the coming days.
Najeeb stated that while he managed to pick up some groceries and items from the shops before they predictably run out of stock, they would only be enough for about three days.
“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 admitted that it would be difficult to evacuate them as the closest border, the 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.
Najeeb Yakubu was a member of the Black Starlets squad that represented Ghana at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
Source: guardian
