All Premier League clubs agree to welcome Ukrainian youngsters to their academies amid Russia invasion, says Shevchenko
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PREMIER LEAGUE clubs will allow Ukrainian kids to train with their academies amid Russia's invasion of their country, claims Andriy Shevchenko.
Vladimir Putin's brutal assault on Ukraine has seen more than 1.3million people flee the nation in order to try and escape the war zone.
These refugees have primarily headed into Romania and Poland, and footy legend Shevchenko is desperate for the kids among those ranks to be able to play the beautiful game.
He told TV channel 1+1: "In the UK, all football clubs have responded to the situation in Ukraine.
"They are ready to accept Ukrainian children to train in the academies of Premier League clubs.
"Now a series of negotiations will be held to formalise the documents. We need to get permission.
"We'll try to get this done very quickly. I'm in touch with the football federation. Sports camps will open.
"Everything must be done so that children who leave the cities of Ukraine can train either on the territory of Western Ukraine, or it will already be on the territory of other countries.";
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Premier League sides have shown solidarity with Ukrainians this weekend - with every fixture featuring a message of support pre kick-off - with the slogan 'Football Stands Together' adorning every ground.
Both Vitaliy Mykolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko captained their respective sides in mid-week.
Speaking to Sky, Shevchenko added: "I want to thank my nation, army, president Volodymyr Zelensky (for doing) everything possible to defend my country from Russian aggression. I'm so proud to be Ukrainian.
"It's a very difficult moment for my country, for my people, for my family.
"My mum and my sister are in Kyiv at this moment and there are terrible things happening there.
"It's people dying, children dying, missiles pointing in our houses, and we need to stop this war, we need to find a way to stop the war."
