Shakhtar Stadium Shelled

Shakhtar chief exec Sergei Palkin said two shells struck the Donbass Arena complex, one damaging the stadium itself and another striking its electricity substation.

The stadium is in the centre of the city in the Lenin Comsomol park. The club published photos of the damage caused by the shells, but reported that there were no casualties among the stadium staff.

Donetsk is the largest city controlled by pro-Russian rebels, and fighting in the area has become more intense in recent weeks.

The conflict between Ukrainian national forces and pro-Russian separatists has already led to Shakhtar playing its home games in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Lviv is 600 miles to the west of Donetsk, but in July the switch became inevitable as six of the club’s foreign players refused to continue to play in the embattled city.

The club has qualified for this season’s European Champions League. The group stage begins next month.

The 53,000-capacity stadium was completed in 2009 and used for the 2012 European championship, which was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

Shakhtar is owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, whose metals industry companies employ thousands in the Donetsk area and who paid for the Donbass Arena to be built.

Akhmetov has publicly opposed the separatists and called for both sides in the conflict to refrain from bombing Donetsk. The Donbass is the third Ukrainian sports building to fall victim to the region’s troubles.

Four months ago, Donetsk’s ice hockey arena was looted and burned. Last month, Ukrainian Premier League club Zorya Luhansk’s stadium was hit by mortar fire that smashed seats and left a crater in its field.