Former Roma coach Paulo Fonseca and his family escaped Kyiv this week, but his Ukrainian wife sends a message to ‘all the people in Europe, America, Russia and the whole world. This is what I saw with my own eyes.’
Fonseca met his wife Katerina Ostroushko when she was working as a spokesperson for Rinat Akhmetov, who at the time was the owner of the club he was working for, Shakhtar Donetsk.
His family continued to live in Kyiv and were trapped when Russia invaded Ukraine, managing to escape to the border only a couple of days ago.
Now Katerina has written an open letter in Italian newspaper Il Tempo, explaining what she and Fonseca saw in their home town.
“I am speaking all the people in Europe, America, Russia and the whole world. There is a war going on in Ukraine. It is not a ‘special operation,’ but a cynical and cruel war.
“Cities and villages are in flames as bombs fall from the sky. Missiles from Russia and Belarus fly towards high-rise residential buildings. This is what I saw with my own eyes and what millions of Ukrainians continue to see every day.
“The mad Fuhrers send their soldiers to kill Ukrainians who sacrifice their lives to defend their country, their wives, their children. This is the only truth and there are no others.
“Don’t believe it when they tell you the bombs do not hit civilians. They kill and destroy. Don’t believe it if they tell you our Government is full of ‘Nazis.’ The Government and President are in Kyiv, along with our army defending the country and its peaceful people.
“Don’t believe anything other than at this moment in the centre of Europe there is a brutal and bloody war against pacific Ukrainians who are only fighting for their freedom.
“Help to stop this war! Ask your friends and colleagues in Russia why their soldiers are fighting and dying in Ukraine. Why do they execute criminal orders that kill civilians? This is our country, our land, all this is foreign to them! They must return to their homes and leave ours.
“Today, the Ukrainian cities are in flames. Today the children are hiding in bomb shelters without food. Today they shot at a bus carrying Ukrainian refugees and wouldn’t allow an ambulance to reach them.
“Who can tell which city and which country will be bombed tomorrow? The whole world stands with Ukraine. Now we wait and hope someone can help, but that is not enough today!
“As long as the bombs continue to fall and the Ukrainians continue to die, it is not enough. Please, we do not want war. Stop this insane war. Stop yourselves now!”
Roberto De Zerbi is the current coach of Shakhtar Donetsk and he remains in Kyiv with his Italian members of staff, awaiting safe passage back home.
L’appello di Katerina Fonseca: “In Ucraina guerra brutale e sanguinosa, fermate questa follia della Russia” #AsRoma https://t.co/BcmExDEJvJ pic.twitter.com/O6GLZejDqf
— laroma24.it (@LAROMA24) February 27, 2022
Really courageous words. Love and Hope sent from Canada.