Carlos PenaUruguayan midfielder who plays for Dynamo Kyivhas narrated his terrible experience to leave Ukraine after the start of the bombing by the Russian army in the country’s big cities, including the capital, where the soccer player trained in National and with a past Oviedowhere he played the 2016/2017 season.
Before dawn on February 24, the Russian invasion of different areas of the Ukrainian territory began: “I woke up to the noise of planes and bombs that exploded in Kiev. The peace ended and the nightmare began. In the street I saw the desperation of the people, lines in the supermarkets and ATMs and people fleeing towards the border.
From there Sorry narrates the difficulties he had, given the lack of foresight and organization to leave the capital: “Together with Vitinho (Brazilian soccer player for Dinamo) we went to a hotel to take refuge with other Brazilian players. The collapsed routes, the lack of food and fuel, made we spent the night in an underground floor of the hotel with a stronger structure against possible bombing. The concern was great, and although the authorities contacted us, the solutions to escape did not appear.”
As the hours passed, the conflict increased and also approached Kiev after the advance of the Russian troops and this is how the Uruguayan describes these moments: “It was very risky to leave Kiev and we were a group of 40 people who were together in everything. On Friday Russian troops were invading in several places near Kiev. The explosions were felt close, civilians were beginning to die and fear was growing.”
A journalist, key in the escape
“Night came and the Russians were already outside the capital, threatening to take it. A hard night. On Saturday the solution did not seem to appear, until after speaking with a BBC journalist with experience in 3 wars, we decided to take a train to the Romanian border, despite the risk of not taking place or suffering a problem on the way to the station. We managed to take the train, stopping in many cities and after 17 hours, we arrived at a city on the border, where we took a bus until we crossed to Moldavia“, details De Pento about leaving a country where he arrived in 2019 and where he was already playing his fourth season. This same campaign the Uruguayan player had been a pillar in the participation of the Dynamo Kyiv on Champions League.
in your message Sorry He says goodbye with thanks to all the people who helped him in these difficult times and with the support for a country that had become his home until the war took it from him: “I want to tell you what I was feeling. First, the support from each person who sent me a message, they made themselves available and I send positive energies at all times. I do not want to stop thanking them from the bottom of my heart. Also, I was very afraid and I hid to cry several times so as not to show desperation in front of others and to show myself strong. Now I want to pray for my teammates in Ukraine and their families and for all the Ukrainian people who are suffering this terrible senseless thing. The solidarity of the Ukrainians is worthy of admiration. Pray for PEACE, for the end of this nightmare. And not stop giving thanks, because deep down, I came to think that I was not going to get out of there! LONG LIVE UKRAINE!!”