Shakhtar Donetsk’s state of the art Donbass Arena has suffered visible damage to its glass façade in the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian separatists.
Perhaps too early to tell the full extent of the damage, Vadyn Gunko, the Arena’s interim executive manager cautioned that “We are warning the residents of Donetsk not to approach the stadium under any circumstances as it might be unsafe.”
He added “As a result of a powerful explosion, the blast waves have caused [What appears to be] serious damage to the western and eastern parts of the arena.”
“A part of the facade glass crashed, a large area of it with critical damage. The inner facilities also were hit. We are assessing the damage at the moment, blocking the dangerous areas.”
Donbass Arena first opened in August 2009 and will be familiar to England fans having hosted two group matches of the Euro 2012 competition against France and hosts Ukraine.
The city of Donetsk located in Eastern Ukraine near to the Russian Border and is currently a stronghold for the separatists who continue to fight with the armed forces controlled by the Ukrainian government.
Shakhtar already abandoned the stadium following widely reported fears of players back in July with CEO Sergei Palkin releasing a statement to allay growing concerns.
“The issue of players’ safety is the main priority of our club and no one is going to take the players to the places where combat activity is underway or there’s at least a small hint at the insecure stay.”
As a result the club are playing their home games at the Arena Lviv located in the west of the country after submitted the relevant paperwork to UEFA.