LNZ Cherkasy is trying to navigate the war by planning for a bright future in football

At the LNZ Cherkasy training ground, the players are practising corner kicks. Inside the box, they jostle, hold each other back and look for space. One of them shouts “Arsenal!” and the others laugh. The reference is to the English side’s set-piece tactics – a model that remains a distant ideal. Much closer, however, is Gent, who will host the Ukrainians on Thursday 30 July in the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League. The first match, played in Poland, ended 0–0 and marked LNZ’s debut in European competition.

Four years ago, the club was playing in the fourth tier; it only turned professional in 2020 and last season finished the Ukrainian league in second place, behind Shakhtar Donetsk – to whom they lost 1–4 at home – after leading the table at the halfway stage. But LNZ is no longer a surprise: it is the fastest-growing football project in Russia-occupied Ukraine.

Cherkasy lies at the geographical centre of the country, on the banks of the Dnipro, but for decades it has remained on the fringes of national football. Now, at the entrance to the city, a purple billboard proclaims: ‘Cherkasy, Ukraine’s football hub’.

LNZ has been in existence since 2006 and takes its name from the local agro-industrial company that owns it. Its growth has not been driven by spectacular signings. The club has invested in facilities, scouting and a management team made up of under-30s. Vasyl Kayuk, aged 26, is the youngest general manager in the history of the Ukrainian top flight: “The advantage of being young is that nobody believes in you.”

Manager Vitaliy Ponomaryov, who arrived in 2025 from Rukh Lviv, has transformed a team that had finished the previous season in twelfth place. Aged fifty-two, and with a background as an assistant referee, he has built a squad capable of changing tactics and pace without losing its balance. Ghanaian Mark Assinor, spotted after playing for lower-league sides in Poland and Slovakia, epitomises the approach: seeking out underrated players rather than chasing expensive signings.

The story, however, cannot be explained solely through the pitch. LNZ has grown amidst a war that permeates every corner of the club. Physiotherapist Artur Pohorilyi served as a military doctor and survived an explosion near Izium in 2023. Doctor Roman Mishchenko also works at a hospital for wounded soldiers, which is financially supported by the club, and collaborates with the Ukrainian programme dedicated to football for amputees.

Alexei Bulgakov, coach of the Under-16s, worked in Mariupol’s youth academy before the Russian siege. He managed to escape, but lost his home and was separated from his family. Today, he coaches young players from the occupied territories. Some still have parents on the other side of the front line. They talk about the streets and buildings of the cities they left behind, waiting for the day when they can return.

The academy is based in a converted former Soviet sanatorium. The new training centre, already ranked amongst the best in the country, is, according to the club, only 35 per cent complete. Plans include three further pitches, an indoor facility and a new stadium. The project will take at least five years: “We’re not sprinters, we’re marathon runners,” Kayuk repeats.

On Thursday, in Belgium, a win is needed to keep the Conference League campaign going. But the result will not be the end of the story. Whilst war destroys places, tears families apart and puts the future on hold, in Cherkasy a club is building pitches, welcoming displaced people and planning a stadium. Because in Ukraine today, even planning the next training session can be a form of resistance.