As Russian attacks intensify across Kyiv, the founder of the city’s newly established GAA club says the escalating danger is reshaping everyday life while testing the future of the team.
Kyiv Gaels was founded in 2024 by Dublin native and humanitarian worker Alex Brock.
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This weekend, club members travelled to Italy to represent Kyiv Gaels in its first-ever European competition, held in Verona.
The team took part in the Central East GAA Regional Finals, staged as part of this year’s Tocatì festival in Verona, where Ireland was the guest of honour.
Mr Brock said the club was created both as a meeting point for Kyiv’s Irish community and as a home for the thousands of Ukrainians now playing Gaelic games through schools and clubs across Ireland.
“There are thousands of Ukrainians involved in GAA with schools and clubs throughout Ireland. We wanted to create a space for them when the war is over and they return home, we will welcome them back and they will have a place to continue to play our games,” he said.
Alex Brock and Melissa McKay of Kyiv Gaels
Mr Brock said the latest escalation in Russian attacks on Kyiv was being felt directly by residents and by the club itself.
“The current situation is the worst we have seen in the Capital Kyiv since the war started. There is a lack of air defences which means a lot more of the attacks are landing in Kiev and there is a lot more destruction.
“We play at our grounds every Monday night, and we check the alarms before playing to see if there are any incoming missiles and to make sure we have a shelter nearby”.
Night-time missile warnings had once been a familiar part of life, he said, but the pattern has now changed, with alarms sounding “nearly 24/7”, Mr Brock said.
“It’s very worrying for our friends and colleagues working there. A lot of our members have received notice that they are being relocated to the Western part of Ukraine for safety reasons. There is a heightened level of risk not only to humanitarian workers but it’s also being felt more acutely by Ukrainians themselves in Kyiv”, he said.
Even amid the danger and uncertainty, Mr Brock said he remained confident that Kyiv Gaels would endure. He believes the club can continue to serve Irish workers in the city and, when the war ends, offer returning Ukrainian refugees a place to resume playing Gaelic games at home.
