Defending Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk wore their hearts on their sleeves — and the rest of their kits — during their UEFA Champions League match on Wednesday, September 18.
Shakhtar — the only Ukrainian team in this season’s Champions League league phase — ditched their normal orange-and-black jerseys and broke out special kits in the colors of the Ukrainian flag when they visited Italian Serie A side Bologna FC on Wednesday.
This marked the first time that Shakhtar has worn yellow and blue kits in honor of their home country.
“We are proud to be Ukrainians,” the club said on its English Twitter account, where they also posted photos of the kits around Bologna.
The base of the Puma-manufactured kit is yellow, with blue vertical stripes down the front. Each broad blue stripe has a narrower blue stripe next to it. The side panels are yellow with a blue stripe cutting through it diagonally. The sleeves are solid blue with yellow cuffs. And the V-neck collar is yellow with blue trim and a blue insert at the front. The club crest on the chest is recolored to yellow and blue.
On the back collar, two crossed hammers — a symbol of the club since the 1960s — sits in the middle of the year 1936, when Shakhtar was founded.
The jersey was paired blue shorts and yellow socks for Wednesday’s game.
According to the Associated Press, Shakhtar Donetsk will play its home Champions League matches this season at the VELTINS-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, the home of FC Schalke 04. The club — which has won the Ukrainian Premier League championship 15 times — hasn’t been able to play European games at their home stadium in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022.