How does an English footballer escape Ukraine during the war?
‘Just don’t believe the media’. That is what Viv Solomon-Otabor was told when he signed for Rukh Lviv in Ukraine in January. Fast forward just three months and Ukraine continues to be bombarded by Russia following instructions from president Vladimir Putin on 24 February.
It brought everything in the country to a halt, including football. With no competitive action, for understandable reasons, Solomon-Otabor, albeit still contracted to the Ukrainian Premier League club, was left technically without a club just months after arriving in the country.
Yet, there is no sense of self-pity from the 26-year-old forward, who understands that, at a time like this, football just isn’t important when people’s lives are being destroyed on a daily basis.
Beginning his youth career with Crystal Palace, Solomon-Otabor later took up a scholarship with Birmingham City. The attacking winger made over 30 professional appearances for the club from 2014 to 2019, also spending time out on loan with several Football League clubs.
Having rejected a new deal at St. Andrew’s, Solomon-Otabor opted to sign with CSKA Sofia of the Bulgarian First League. But with Bulgarian football suspended in March 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic, his contract was cancelled for financial reasons during the hiatus.
Solomon-Otabor did later return to the UK, playing for Wigan Athletic and Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone. His time in England had been successful, and he had throughly enjoyed it, but he wanted to feel valued again.
A new challenge
For whatever reason, it is somewhat uncommon for English players to ply their trade in other countries, especially Ukraine. Yet, in January this year, Rukh Lviv offered Solomon-Otabor a chance to step out of his comfort zone and experience something new, which he chose to grab with both hands.
Russian troops were positioned on the Ukraine boarder when he put pen to paper on his contract, but the former Birmingham man says that everyone was still just focusing on football.
However, things quickly changed, for both the people of Ukraine and Solomon-Otabor.
“I asked what was happening and they said ‘just don’t believe the media’, in terms of that they didn’t think Russia was going to invade the country,” Solomon-Otabor told JOE.
“But everyone was just normal and I was just concentrating on football and just getting ready to play.
“We were in Turkey for the last three weeks [before the invasion began] so we weren’t even in Ukraine anyway.
“And the day we got back, we trained on the Wednesday evening because they gave us that morning off, and then the next day that’s when they actually came into the country. And everyone was shocked.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February, 4.7 million Ukrainians have reportedly left the country and a quarter of the population has been displaced.
According to the Office of the U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 1,800 civilians have been killed in Ukraine.
As news of the invasion spread around the country, Solomon-Otabor was at the training complex, where he, and several hundred academy players, were based.
Although, on reflection, he believes that he was able to remain calm during the chaos, he was aware how worried his family back home were, and that things were about to move incredibly quickly.
“It was crazy. The kids were just running about going on as if everything’s normal,” he said.
“But then I was getting texts from my mum, family and friends saying ‘you need to come home now’, and I was just like ‘no’ and I don’t know why but I was just calm.
“I remember speaking to the director about how we were going to get home, originally we were going to go to Poland and stay in a hotel in Poland, or they said you could go home.
“So I just thought ‘I’m going to go home’ because my family are going to want to see me and want to know I’m safe.
“I was just thinking ‘oh my god there’s a war here’, you can’t really be upset about football because people’s lives are on the line.
“It was a strange feeling and nothing like I’ve felt before, I wasn’t scared, I was calm, I just don’t know how to explain it.”
While the footballer was able to remain reasonably relaxed about the situation, false news about a bomb hitting Lviv – a city in western Ukraine around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland – sent his family into frenzy.
Yet, Solomon-Otabor believes that the constant dialogue with his family and friends helped to keep everyone, including himself, calm.
He added: “I think there was false news that a bomb had hit Lviv, so everyone was messaging me saying I need to come home.
“What made it easier was that I was communicating with my mum the whole time, it was just constant communication until I got home.
“The fact that I was calm about everything was probably why she was calm, but she does have high blood pressure so it wasn’t nice for her, but once I started communicating with her, everything was fine.”
Travelling to the Polish boarder
Much like many other Ukrainians, Solomon-Otabor’s escape route from Ukraine saw him travel to the nearby Polish boarder – with Lviv situated reasonably close to the nearest boarder crossing.
Understandably, Solomon-Otabor, and the three teammates he was travelling with, weren’t the only people heading for the boarder.
As they approached the crossing, the footballers were met by around 100,00 other cars. But it was on route which shocked him the most, with the 26-year-old passing the Ukraine army on the way, which is something he never thought would happen.
“They [Rukh Lviv] gave us the options, I would go through Romania or go through Poland. But Poland from the Polish border to the village was only like an hour and a half.
“So luckily, my teammate had his car, which was a bonus as well. So me and three other teammates got in his car and we started heading for the border.
“As he was driving to the boarder, we saw the Ukraine army drive past, we saw like five tanks, it was like something you see in Call of Duty.
“That’s when you know it’s real. These people are literally going to fight for their country right now.
“When we were approaching the boarder, there was like 100,000 cars there. It was so packed that people started parking their cars and just walking to the Polish boarder and on the motorway.
“We got there about 3pm and I got over the boarder at 12:30am.”
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For Solomon-Otabor, crossing the boarder led to a sense of relief, but also one of shock at the lengths people had gone to to leave the country.
“We couldn’t believe it, we were just looking at each other like ‘this is very real’,” he said when asked how it felt cross the boarder.
“But we had to keep calm, I dont know what it was but I was just so calm, but shocked at the same time.
“I’ve never seen that many cars in one place at once. What shocked me the most was when we got over the boarder, the amount of people walking on the motorway at like 1am or 2am.
“Some people had to turn around, they weren’t letting them through the boarder, they had to stay and fight I think.
“Everyone just had to respect everyone and kind of help each other. Because no one wants to be here right now. Everyone wants to go home.”
After making it to Krakow, Solomon-Otabor was then able to get on a flight to London.
Although he was able to remain calm in extreme circumstances, the attacker – whose football career was now in limbo – was relieved to be home, as much for his family’s sake as his own.
He said: “It wasn’t until I got home and saw my mum’s face and the relief on her and my sister’s face, and then when I watched the news and saw how bad it had got in literally a day, and we were there just hours before.
“No one wants to be in that situation and you wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“I’m very lucky because I was already in a safe zone and people have been attacked, so you’ve got to count your blessings.”
‘You have to focus on what’s really important’
While football is both his hobby and profession, Solomon-Otabor understands that, despite its undoubted importance, the sport has to come secondary to protecting people’s lives.
He also knows that, as difficult as it might be to switch off from the game, there is more to life than the sport he has devoted his entire life too.
“Football is important, but when lives have been taken away, you have to put it to the side and focus on what’s really important which is the safety of people,” he said.
“There’s more to life than football and with the war and stuff, you have to consider the ones who are suffering from this. I’ve just been thinking about those who have been suffering because of it.
“It’s very sad, football over there is massive with some massive clubs, big stadiums and to see what it looks like now is heartbreaking.
“I speak to my teammates, obviously because their in Lviv it’s safe, but then there’s young academy players who have had to leave the country.”
The next step
Now, nearly two months since the war in Ukraine began, Solomon-Otabor is keen to get back playing, and is in the process of doing exactly that.
While the footballer cannot switch off from what is happening in the country he briefly called home, he is desperate to get back on the pitch.
He said: “I’m in the process of sorting out with a different team and looking to get back going again.
“It’s unfortunate because there’s the war and stuff, but you also want to continue to play which is also important.
“I don’t just want to sit at home and chill until June, I just want to play football.”
For a 26-year-old who has made over 150 professional appearances in his career, the desire the get back on the field and kick a ball about is completely understandable. After months of death and destruction, who could begrudge the people of Ukraine, or the ones that chose to call it home, doing what they love?
Related links:
- Brave doctor drives third ambulance to Ukraine days after last one was shelled
- Russian ‘chemical weapon’ dropped on Mariupol causing respiratory problems, Ukraine claims
- Cambridge Uni fresher joins Ukraine army but still plans to sit exams
