Andriy Yarmolenko says that football has given him a distraction and stopped him from going “crazy” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Hammers star has returned to the squad amid the war in his home country and has been heroic in his contributions, scoring against both Aston Villa and Sevilla. 
Yarmolenko was initially given compassionate leave by the club as his family remained in Ukraine while Vladimir Putin’s troops crossed the border.
Per the London Evening Standard, his family are now safely back in London having left via Poland and, as a result, he has returned to football.
And he has now insisted that playing football for the Irons has been the best possible distraction from the horrors his countrymen are enduring.
Speaking to Ukrainian Football YouTube channel, 1/2/3, as per the Standard, the winger said: “David Moyes told me I could choose to train or not and that I had to do everything I could to ensure the safety of my family.
“I needed to remain professional so I returned. I was just going crazy and you need to be distracted. But even now, I don’t know what the other results are. It is just training ends and then the phone calls home.
“It is honestly scary to talk about it. We have to help each other. If we do not then no one will.
“I am sure we will not be beaten by any country. No one will ever be able to break our spirit.”
Yarmo has also admitted that he was left in tears when the invasion started, to the point where he had to ask Moyes to let him leave and go home.
He added: “When it all started, on February 24, I arrived at training and couldn’t even talk.
“I had tears flowing. I asked the coach to let me go home.
“I didn’t believe this could happen. I sent my family to Kyiv because my child had to have a doctor’s appointment.
“Can you imagine what I was like when it started the next morning? I just wanted to run and hit my head against a wall. What a fool I was sending my family to Kyiv and I am sitting in London.”
