Ukraine's national football team is preparing for a friendly match against Denmark in Lviv. Part of the training camp included a traditional visit to a military hospital — the Military Medical Clinical Center of the Western Region, where wounded defenders from eight regions of the country are undergoing rehabilitation. UAF President Andriy Shevchenko, the coaching staff, and the entire squad communicated with the soldiers and provided assistance to the facility.
But this visit became talked about not because of protocol photos.
Woke up — a pennant lying nearby
Wounded soldier Serhiy Volkov wrote honestly on the Threads social network: the footballers came, but he was asleep. When he woke up, he saw a signed pennant next to his bed. Whose signature — unclear.
"The national football team players came to the hospital — I honestly slept through it. When I woke up, I saw a pennant with an autograph next to me, and I don't even know who to thank. Who recognizes the signature?"
Serhiy Volkov, on Threads
The author turned out to be Oleksandr Romanchuk — a 25-year-old central defender for the club "Universitatea Craiova" (Romania), a national team debutant. He made his debut in a recent friendly match against Poland (2:0), playing the first half. At the hospital, he decided not to wake the sleeping soldier — he simply left the pennant and left.
"Yes, it's mine — I didn't want to disturb your sleep, decided to leave it next to you. Thank you for your protection, and a speedy recovery!"
Oleksandr Romanchuk — in response to Volkov's post
Why this is not just a "nice gesture"
Romanchuk didn't call the UAF asking to "make a post." He personally replied on social networks — and only then did Volkov learn his name. UAF representatives in the comments suggested to the soldier to exchange contacts to meet during the training camp.
A detail that changes the context: Romanchuk is a debutant. Not a star for whom an autograph costs nothing. A person who has only just received a call-up to the national team and, according to head coach Malderi, "played the position in the best manner." At the hospital, he did something that didn't require attention — and that's precisely why it attracted it.
The national team provided material assistance to the hospital during this training camp. But it wasn't this news that spread online — it was the photo of the pennant on the sleeping soldier's bed.
If the UAF truly organizes a personal meeting between Romanchuk and Volkov during the training camp — it will become a precedent worth noting: not charity for show, but a concrete arrangement between a footballer and a defender. The question is whether it will actually happen once the cameras are gone.
