Ukrainian referee who oversaw England details horrific experiences as bombs drop

"This is our life now."

Maryna Striletska is part of the trailblazing team of Ukrainian football officials who have broken barriers and created history.

Alongside referee Kateryna Monzul and Striletska's fellow assistant Svitlana Grushko, the trio became the first all-female team to take charge of an England men's international - overseeing Gareth Southgate's side five-goal win over Andorra in their World Cup qualifier in October.

Less than five months later, everything has changed.

"Me and my family sit at home, we are already into our sixth day of this," Striletska explained to Mirror Football from the east of Ukraine, currently surrounded by invading Russian troops.

"Sometimes there are explosions, we can hear tanks exploding with the shells that are inside them.

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"I am not able even to exercise in the morning or go out, it is not safe."

In 2020, the Ukrainian trio became the first females to officiate a senior men's international game and they have become regulars on the Europa League, Europa Conference League and men's Ukrainian Premier League rotations.

Striletska is based in the east of Ukraine in an area surrounded by Russian troops, while her colleagues Monzul and Grushko are in the west of the nation.

"I am constantly in touch with them, but it is calmer where they are at the moment," added Striletska, who was unable to escape the area before Ukraine was invaded by Russia.

"The invaders are all around us, we could not escape.

"Now it is calm in my village, but fighting is going on in neighbouring villages and we can hear the explosions and bombs there.

"In Okhtyrka, which is 40km from where I live, they have already dropped a vacuum bomb, for the first time in history.

"Now it is safest to stay at home and pray; there is a basement so you can hide in there.

"We have been sleeping on the floor near the basement."

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, told reporters on Monday night that a vacuum bomb had been dropped by Russia on Ukraine - although this remains unconfirmed.

Okhtyrka Mayor Pavel Kuzmenko described the weapon used in the attack on his northeastern city as a vacuum bomb, which is said to have killed 70 soldiers.

A vacuum bomb, or thermobaric weapon, sucks in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, typically producing a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than that of a conventional explosive and is capable of vaporizing human bodies.

Striletska explains that invading Russian troops have turned up to her home and others in the village because they had run out of food and attempted to loot the villages.

"Russians will turn up to our homes with machine guns but they are hungry, they will ask us for food and water - then will take everything that we have."

Despite the terrible adversity of their nation's situation, there can be no doubt over the resilience, spirit and togetherness of the Ukrainian population.

Across the country, Ukrainians have moved to protect their nation, their families and their homes from the invasion.

"Ukrainians are fearless; we carry mines in our hands, and we have been stopping tanks without weapons, only using our bodies," explained Striletska.

"At home we prepare Molotov cocktails to protect our homes."

She insisted that Ukrainians were prepared to fight to defend their democracy and their values, referencing the Orange Revolution surrounding the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election.

The election was contested between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych, the latter of whom was backed by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In the runoff of the second round of voting, Yanukovych was declared the winner although Yushchenko's supporters claimed fraud and staged mass protests that came to be known as the Orange Revolution.

Clad in Yushchenko's campaign colours of orange, the protestors succeeded as the results of the original run-off were annulled and Yushchenko won the subsequent election, held under intense scrutiny of domestic and international observers.

Striletska continued: "The difference between Ukrainians and Russians is that they are cowards, they were intimidated, and they have stood and watched as others are dragged to prisons.

"In Ukraine, we are free people - we live in a democracy. If the police began to drag one person to prison then believe me, nobody would just stand there and look the other way.

"Our people have gathered stones and thrown them at these policemen. A while ago, the president and his assistants would have been found and killed - everyone saw this as the Orange Revolution.

"If Russians all stood up against this and stopped being afraid, then people would stop going to prison."

Yet life in Ukraine is unbearable for a people who are under siege as Striletska spoke of the Russian attempts to isolate the population and destroy morale.

"Now we are getting information that our internet connection will be cut out because Russia is trying to disable it," she explained. "They want to misinform us from within.

"They are doing this so that people stop resisting, they are already in the city of Kherson saying through communication channels that (Ukraine president, Volodymyr) Zelensky has surrendered the country, but no one believes it.

"We will fight until the end because we believe in our country."

The slogan ' Glory to Ukraine' has been revived both in Ukraine and internationally as a symbol of resistance against Russia's invasion of the embattled nation.

Life in Ukraine has not been the same since 24 February when Russia began its self-described "special military operation"; bombarding its neighbour with air strikes and an influx of ground troops.

Life for Maryna Striletska, Kateryna Monzul and Svitlana Grushko has gone from officiating top tier football matches for FIFA and UEFA to resistance - for themselves, their families, their homes and their nation.

Striletska summed up: "This is our life now."