PARENTS stare nervously at the sky, scanning it for Russian drones as their children practise penalties during football training.
But distant artillery fire brings an abrupt end to spot kicks for the U12 girls’ team of Krystal FC in ’s most dangerous city.
The ”;warrior”; kids and coaches play on in the city, despite ’s daily bombings — his troops dug in just a few miles away across the .
Their stadium has been blitzed and the training pitch attacked by kamikaze , sending youngsters, mums and dads scattering in terror.
Now, in a sickening twist, drone pilots are hunting down kids and civilians in the streets in a horrifying new war dubbed “human safari”; by locals.
The operators of the devices drop grenades onto people, and buses, and also use — the latest weapons in a conflict which has raged for three years, killing or maiming some one million innocents.
The southern city of resembles an almost post-apocalyptic landscape as Russian forces shell the “ghost”; city every day.
Packs of abandoned scavenge for food as more than three-quarters of residents have fled the battle-scarred area.
Russian drones have even dropped butterfly mines here, which explode when stepped on or driven over.
‘No one is safe’
The injuries they cause have led to many casualties losing a foot.
But the Krystal Kherson coaches and parents are determined to let the children keep playing the game that they love as it distracts them from the horrors of war — especially while crucial peace talks between world leaders stall.
The kids play only away games, as home fixtures are too dangerous.
And in spite of the huge challenges they face, Krystal’s U12 girls’ team have reached the final of the Ukrainian Championships.
Star striker Ulyana Kachan, 12, goes to training every couple of days, despite the grave dangers.
Her mum Alyona, 31, said: “She loves and it takes her mind off the bombs and the war.
“But I’m terrified she’ll get hurt when she goes out and I hear the bombs or see drones in the sky. It’s so dangerous — our home has been bombed. It’s a nightmare.
Ulyana was training when a drone landed nearby, but it didn’t hurt anyone. Everyone was very scared. But still the girls go to training — they are so brave
Alyona, mum of star striker Ulyana Kachan
“Ulyana was training when a drone landed nearby, but it didn’t hurt anyone. Everyone was very scared. But still the girls go to training — they are so brave.”;
Lawyer Alyona, who has stayed in to look after her 90-year-old grandmother, said: “Ulyana’s lessons are all online, so football is one of the few times she can meet up with her friends.
“I worry, but she has been through so much and she would be heartbroken if I took away football.
“Football shows her life, not death. It’s scary to hear the bombs everyday and watch as the city is slowly being destroyed.
“No-one is safe — my friend lost an eye when a drone hit his car. A lot of Ulyana’s team don’t live in the city any more as it is so dangerous. We all meet up for tournaments in different cities in Ukraine.”;
Ulyana, who is the team’s top scorer, admitted: “I am scared at night when I hear the bombs.
“But football makes me happy — especially when I score. I like being striker.”;
The team’s goalkeeper and captain, Amina Seredenko, 12, added: “I am happy when I play. Football makes me forget about the war.”;
The girls sing the Ukrainian national anthem before each game and coach Vyacheslav Roll decorates the pitch with national flags, to “help inspire the girls”;.
But he warned: “I had to hide the flags when the Russians occupied the city.”;
The U12s won all three games in a group stage of the Ukrainian Futsal Championship semi-finals in the city of in late February.
Ulyana scored eight of the team’s ten goals. The squad is now in training for the final in a few weeks’ time.
Club volunteer Andrij Petronka, 56, said: “We hope they will win the final. They are one of the best teams in Ukraine.
“But their home is so dangerous. Football brings a smile to their faces. We feared the children would be afraid to play, but they are very brave.”;
Team coach, Vyacheslav, 68, has survived numerous bombings, six drone attacks and even interrogation by since Putin’s forces invaded the city.
The grandfather said: “I am so proud of the girls and the other children who play. The girls have become one of the best teams in the country.
“They are warriors — nothing will stop them playing. One drone even landed when we were training.
“Thankfully, it wasn’t close enough to injure, but it was very frightening for the children. Football gives them life around such horror.”;
Of his own terrifying brushes with Russian shell and drone fire, Vyacheslav recalled: “I was in the stadium when a shell landed. It damaged the roof, but I wasn’t hurt.
They are warriors — nothing will stop them playing
Vyacheslav Roll, team coach
“Where I live, drones fly all the time. They are like bumble bees in . One hit a ’s car when I was very close.
“My landlady was recently killed in a drone strike when it hit her car.
“Her husband is heartbroken. He cries every time he talks about her.”;
The club also has a boys’ team. Mum-of-two Svetlana Kramarenko, 33, whose nine-year-old son Igor has just started playing there, said: “He is afraid when he hears the bombs, especially at night.
“Sometimes he has nightmares and I have to in the same bed as him. But he always has a smile on his face when he comes back from training.
“He likes to play football, like so many kids, and playing in the city proves the people of Kherson will not give up so easily.”;
‘Like a zombie film’
Waves of Russian drones have been sent across the river to terrorise the 80,000 residents who remain in the city.
Statistics from January showed 12,000 attacks recorded in the last five months of 2024, leaving 64 dead and 609 injured. This has intensified since the new year.
The head of Kherson’s military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said: “This is targeted . They see and understand who they are attacking, and at the same time they boast on social media with videos of how they kill and injure civilians.
“People walking, driving, cycling, going to work or standing by grocery stores, are all under attack.”;
Residents have told how they fear a drone attack whenever they leave their .
Cafe worker Svetlana Andrychak, 43, said: “Two chased my car from work. It was terrifying. One dropped on my window and smashed it. I crawled out of the car and hid in a building.
“They were hunting me like it was a kind of sport.”;
And shop worker Olha Chernyshova, 29, revealed: “My car was hit twice in one day by a drone. Now I carry a gun. It is like a zombie horror .”;
The people of Kherson have suffered some of the worse atrocities of the war. The city was occupied for eight months by Russian forces who brutalised the local population.
It is thought more than half of those arrested were tortured in detention centres, including one dubbed The Hole.
People walking, driving, cycling, going to work or standing by grocery stores, are all under attack
Oleksandr Prokudi, Head of Kherson’s military administration
Salesman Andriy Andrushcenko was held for 47 days by Russian soldiers after being caught daubing pro-Ukraine graffiti on walls.
The 31-year-old said: “They beat me and put electric wire on my genitals and ears.
“It was hell. They knocked my teeth out, beat me unconscious. They put dumbbells on my neck and a knife at my back and made me squat down. I just thought I was going to die.”;
He went on: “I could hear the screams of other people being tortured in the next rooms.
“It was horrible. I still have nightmares.”; Children have also been abducted from their and sent to Russia away from their families, with thousands still missing.
And the city was flooded when the Russians blew up the nearby Kakhovka dam, leaving mines floating in the streets.
Residents hope that the war will soon end, despite the delay in a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the bombings and drone attacks have continued.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih was recently bombed, leaving 18 dead — including nine children.
Waiting for a bus near the market in Kherson, grandfather Rudolph Nevetsky, 68, said: “I don’t trust Putin and neither should Trump.
“We have been through much, but I am proud to be still here in this city. Life goes on despite the hell.”;
