The Thill brothers currently play for the central Ukrainian club of Vorskla Poltava, around 350 kilometres from the capital Kyiv. Both the FLF and the club are currently trying to find a way to get the Luxembourgers home, but a simple solution has not yet presented itself, according to Olivier, who spoke to RTL on Thursday, shortly after the Russian invasion began.
Thill said he had attempted to contact his international teammate Enes Mahmutovic, who plays in Lviv near the Polish border, not long after the first sirens began on Thursday morning. He was able to send his wife and young son home to the Grand Duchy earlier this week, but is now concerned about ensuring his own return. He told RTL the club planned to organise a minibus for up to 9 players and their wives to get them as far as the border with Poland. However, the footballers are not the only ones attempting to flee the country - many citizens are seeking to leave Ukraine, thus complicating the matter. Thill described the situation as “chaos”, with long traffic jams forming and issues at service stations, where motorists are restricted to just 20 litres of petrol per transaction.
The distance from Poltava to the Polish border is around 900 kilometres.
