Clone Chakhtior, new league: football pressed into propaganda across occupied Ukraine | OneFootball

Russia has installed clone clubs in occupied Ukrainian regions, including a second Chakhtior Donetsk and another Zorya Lougansk, and created a league. According to L'Équipe, the projects are used to normalise control and serve propaganda aims.

Frontline former ultra Vitalii Ovcharenko says he was unsurprised to see his club copied, arguing Chakhtior symbolises a pro Ukraine Donbass and calling the move ridiculous.

Artem Moskalenko highlights the timing. Chakhtior, already exiled, beat Real Madrid 3-2 on 21 October 2020, and on 1 December, the day of the return, Russia unveiled a Donetsk clone.

The model spans Crimea, Kherson, Zaporijia and northern Donbass. Rubin Yalta and FK Sevastopol joined the Russian pyramid in 2023, and the clone Chakhtior contests the Commonwealth League for the so called new territories, often staged in Eupatoria.

Many matches are played in empty stands, but the images circulate. Youth teams are central, with U13 and U15 events. Artem Kariakin, a Chakhtior ultra turned soldier, calls the games staged and, like Oleh Komuniar, fears children fed only Russian sport since 2014 will accept it as normal.

Ukraine wrote to UEFA on 16 October 2025 alleging a breach of the UAF’s territorial jurisdiction. Chakhtior chief executive Sergey Palkin insists there is only one Chakhtior Donetsk and brands the manoeuvres illegal and deceptive. FIFA referred queries back. Russia’s teams have been suspended since 28 February 2022, and on 3 February 2026 Gianni Infantino said the ban had brought nothing and that FIFA should never bar a country over its leaders.

Source: L'Équipe