The situation in Ukraine is constantly changing, with fierce battles in cities all over the country, including the capital Kyiv. The concern for the safety of Ukrainian players is growing in the chess world and chess24 reached out to some of them, who shared their story about what they are experiencing.

Chess Grandmaster and Captain of the Ukrainian Team Oleksandr Sulypa posted this photo with the caption, "I am defending my land from enemies and "peacekeepers". The truth will win!"

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shocked the chess world and already led to direct consequences as FIDE decided to strip Russia of the Chess Olympiad, scheduled to take place in Moscow from July 26 - August 8. In the announcement, FIDE did not state the reason for the move, with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich later vaguely noting that, “participants will not be able to travel to Moscow in that time period.”

Ukrainian chess players and their families are now in danger while their forces are fighting the invasion. chess24 spoke to several Ukrainian players about what they have gone through in the last few days.

National team coach GM Oleksandr Sulypa is currently in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, and shared a photo of himself armed and ready to fight on social media.

Speaking to chess24, the grandmaster says:

There is a difficult situation — so many rockets fell on cities today that it is difficult to count. I ask all streamers and journalists to support us. I appeal to all Russian chess players — do not support criminal orders. 

We have roadblocks everywhere, the city is patrolled by the defense of the city. I take an active part.

19-year-old Kirill Shevchenko, the 9th highest rated grandmaster in Ukraine, shared some harrowing pictures on Twitter on the day of Russia's invasion and is appealing to the international chess community for support. Russian missiles hit just 500 meters from his home.

Originally from Kyiv, Shevchenko says he has now left the capital after hiding in the subway, which has been used as a bomb shelter, along with thousands of others.

“When we heard about the attack in Kyiv, we were waiting for safety in the basement. And so thousands of people hid in the subway and waited there,” he says. Shevchenko says he has left the capital. “It's too dangerous to stay there.”

Ukrainian Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko during the European Team Chess Championship last year | photo: official website

“When I left Kyiv, I saw several enemy fighters and armored personnel carriers. My family now is good, but we are still reading news and do the maximum we can in such a situation.”

“My family and I woke up at 5am from numerous explosions and red lights, so we quickly packed our bags and waited in the basement.”

Alexander Moiseenko, who is a two-time gold medalist for Ukraine in the Chess Olympiad, is in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1.4 million. The eastern Ukrainian city is just 40km from the Russian border.  

Alexander Moiseenko during a tournament outside Oslo in 2016 | photo: Tarjei J. Svensen

“A lot of people stay and sleep in the subway, but I am at home. I do not feel safe.”

Local authorities claimed Sunday morning that they are in control over the city after repelling Russian forces. 

“Last night was terrible,” he said on Saturday morning. “There were huge attacks from two sides outside the city.”

A few hours later Moiseenko tells chess24 that five houses within a range of five kilometers from his home had been damaged by missiles.

The 41-year-old is in shock over experiencing a war in his homeland.

“I never thought it would be real. It's a tragedy,” he says.

Pavel Eljanov, Ukraine's no. 2 and one of Magnus Carlsen's seconds in a World Championship match, is also from Kharkiv, but has left the city for a safer place.

“Today Putin's army entered my native Kharkiv and there are battles for the city,” he says.

Last summer in the beautiful city of Kharkiv, when tanks on the street were only, for instance, this British World War I tank in front of the Historical Museum 

Pavel had plane tickets to travel to Istanbul, and later the UAE, on the early morning of the 24th. 

Midnight 23/24. I noticed that Kharkiv Airport was closed till morning and my flight is delayed. At this point I felt that something is about to happen and started to check my options. After some reflection I decided to wait. At 4am I woke up just before war started and found out about the "demilitarization" of Ukraine from Putin. At that moment I fully understand that real war has started and it's not about freedom for Lugansk, Donbass etc. After some considerations my ex-wife told me that they will wait with our daughter in Kharkiv for developments. I moved to my mother with an idea to calm her down. The first days were the most difficult, because the acceptance came that the world would not be the same again. Next day I decided to move to the West and again my loved ones decided to stay. It was a risky decision, but I took two trains and, via Kyiv, reached Lviv, where I am now.

Pavel Eljanov at Norway Chess | photo: Tarjei J. Svensen

Eljanov sums up, "It's like a bad dream come true. Kind of feeling that you are about to wake up, but it's not going to happen. Of course I'm missing a lot my loved ones."

Former Women's World Champion Anna Muzychuk is in Lviv and sent the following statement to chess24:

It’s simply insane and goes against all the rules, laws and common sense. But we’re defending and staying strong. I’m thankful to our Ukrainian citizens who are doing their best to defend our country, as well as to the leaders of many countries and lots of people who help us in this difficult situation and stand with us.

On her Facebook profile, she praised Russian chess players who criticized the war and encouraged other players to speak out. She also condemned Sergey Karjakin (who would later post a personal letter in support of Vladimir Putin and his war) and Sergey Shipov, for “actively spreading false information” about the invasion. “Russians, do something! While you believe in false information, people are dying!” she wrote.

On social media, there are several reports from Ukrainian chess players who are suffering the consequences of the invasion, including Alexander Zubov, the grandmaster who sensationally beat Magnus Carlsen in the 2018 World Blitz Chess Championship.

On Thursday, his girlfriend posted a video entitled, “My hiding place in Kyiv,” which shows the couple in the basement of their block of flats. [The video was later deleted. - editor's note]

She narrates: 

This is the cellar of my house. I'll show you a little what's here. It's a bit cold, but you can stay here quite a long time during the day. Here's Sasha sitting. Sometimes there's a signal and you get messages, sometimes not at all... This is the way out onto the street. Now I start to get messages on Viber and Telegram and so on. Many neighbours also came out on the street, waiting for a sign whether to go back down or not. There's quite a lot of us, waiting for information.

Natalia Zhukova, two-time European women's champion and a long-time member of the Ukrainian national women's team, is in Odessa.

"I'm not going anywhere. Many thanks to everyone who writes and supports. Once again: I'm not going to leave anywhere. This is my land, this is my home, and we will defend it to the last," she wrote on Facebook.

The US Chess Federation is among the many that expressed support for Ukrainian chess players. On Friday they published a fundraiser and said that the Kasparov Chess Foundation had already donated $10,000.

The US Chess community is concerned about our family of Ukrainian chess players as they experience rapidly deteriorating conditions in many parts of their invaded country. Some have immediate needs that are exacerbated by the state of emergency. Those wishing to flee a frightening situation are limited by health or family issues, gridlock, fuel-purchase restrictions, and blocked roads.

There are also numerous streams in the pipeline to raise funds. 

Our thoughts at chess24 are with Ukraine right now and we'll continue to report on developments.