Shakhtar Donetsk president Rinat Akhmetov has confirmed that more than £20million of the transfer fee received from Chelsea for Mykhailo Mudryk will be donated to Ukrainian soldiers.
In a statement on the club’s website on Monday, Akhmetov commended Mudryk and shared details of the newly-launched Heart of Azovstal project.
He wrote: “I have made a decision to launch the Heart of Azovstal, a project designed to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers.
“Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in modern history. It is them, their sacrifice and courage that helped contain the enemy in the first months of the war and let all of us feel the inevitability of the victory of Ukraine now.
“I am allocating £20.5m today to help our soldiers, defenders, and their families.
“The money will be used to cover different needs — from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests.”
The message also suggests that Chelsea will travel to face Shakhtar in a friendly in the Donbass Arena once the conflict in Ukraine has ceased.
Mudryk completed his Chelsea switch on Sunday in a deal worth around £100 million.