Professional soccer player in the war

Styrian lives dream between sirens and rubble

Styrian Gabriel Eskinja plays professional soccer for Sorja Lugansk in Ukraine and is living his dream among sirens and rubble. (The picture shows a building in Kiev after a drone attack earlier this month).(Bild: Krone KREATIV/EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko Sorja Luhansk (Fußballer))

Sirens. Curfews. A restricted life. A country at war. An Austrian and his dream of playing professional soccer. In Ukraine, things that don't seem to go together go together. 

When the sirens wail because of possible attacks, it also gets loud directly under his room. Because there, on the outskirts of Kiev, is the entrance to the air raid shelter where everyone in the area under the age of 18 has to retreat. As there is a school in the immediate vicinity, the crowds are usually large. At other times, there is complete silence. And darkness.