Shakhtar owner pledges $25M to Ukrainian soldiers, families

Shakhtar Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov pledged Monday to give $25 million to help the families of soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol when it was attacked by the Russian military.

Akhmetov announced the donation one day after Shakhtar completed a deal worth up to 100 million euros ($108 million) to sell winger Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea, although the Ukrainian club said the money pledged by Akhmetov did not come from the soccer transfer.

“The money will be used to cover different needs — from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests,” Akhmetov said in a statement published on Shakhtar’s website.

During the fall of Mariupol, the fighters who held out for months under relentless bombardment inside the Azovstal steel plant — which is owned by Akhmetov’s Metinvest — became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the early months of the invasion.

“Their acts of bravery are