This Thursday, February 24, 2022, the word Putin and the hashtag #WorldWar3 (Third World War) are trending. Millions of Internet users follow and comment on the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. A French footballer residing in Kiev saw the events up close. Passage of military planes, explosions, beginning of exodus… He tells.
Noa Nehar plays for Dynamo Kiev, one of the biggest clubs in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. He signed up there last December and intended to play his first matches with his new youth team. His projects will not see the light of day, the fault of the Russian military attack in Ukraine, announced by President Vladimir Putin.
Having just returned from Ukraine from Turkey (where he completed a pre-season with Dynamo), Noa finds himself stuck in Kiev. He lived a difficult night and told it to RMC Sports : “That night at 4am, it woke us up. There were planes passing, fighter or military planes. Small bombings, I don’t know if that’s really it because here, we don’t know a lot of things. We don’t have the news, we don’t have TV. So, we don’t really know yet.”
“Last night, we heard three or four explosions… An hour later, we heard another one. And there, ten minutes ago, we heard sirens“, continues the midfielder trained at AS Monaco.
Despite the uncertainties and the palpable tension, Noa still says she is safe, in a good neighborhood.