UAF President Andriy Pavelko spoke about the evacuation of football referee Irina Petrova from Nova Kakhovka to the capital of Ukraine.
On Monday, May 9, the Russians abducted her from Nova Kakhovka and held her at the police station. Subsequently, the referee was allowed to go home, after which she was evacuated to Kyiv.
Pavelko spoke about this on his Facebook page .
“All football Ukraine was worried about the fate of the referee Irina Petrova, who was kept in prison by the invaders in Nova Kakhovka. Fortunately, after everything she went through, we managed to successfully evacuate Irina and now she is safe in Kyiv.
During our meeting at the House of Football, he personally expressed admiration for her patriotism and courage. Since the beginning of the temporary occupation of the Kherson region by Russian fascists, Ira, together with many residents of her native city, went out daily to protest against the invaders and flatly refused to work at a match organized by Russian fascists. For this, she was imprisoned and threatened with lengthy imprisonment. But they didn’t break it! Irina is a symbol of freedom and insubordination of Ukraine!” Pavelko wrote.
The head of the UAF also said that Petrova will work on the staff of the association.
“She sincerely loves football and accepted my offer to work on the staff of the UAF united team. I am proud that we have such brave patriotic professionals! In memory of the meeting, I presented Irina with a special T-shirt of the national team, which is a symbol of the unity of millions of Ukrainians and our reliable allies “. I sincerely wish Irina and all of us a speedy victory over the rashist evil and the revival of a united and independent Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!” he added.
Recall that the wife of the WBO, WBA, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) reacted to the war crimes of Russians in the occupied Kherson region.
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