The Kyiv Opera Hoteljust half an hour’s walk from the emblematic Independence Square of the Ukrainian capital, has undergone a radical change as a result of the offensive by Russia. the troops of Vladimir Putin have surrounded several major cities in recent days, being Kiev one of his great objectives. And there, in the heart of the city, this hotel known by its employees as the ‘hotel of champions’now serves as a bunker.
He stayed in it Spanish Selection of Vicente del Bosqueduring the celebration of the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. And in it, as is known, The Red was done with his second European Championship in a row, the third of his record. In one of its rooms, the boys from Del Bosque celebrated their victory against Italy in the final. Ten years later, his basement is a bunker..
“It is the safest place in the hotel. We have food, but we don’t know what will happen in the future. The situation is getting complicated,” he explains. Sergiy Larionov, head of catering from the hotel to Chain BE. During his talk with Manu Carreño in El Larguero, he explains in perfect Spanish (he spent 12 summers with a foster family in Torrelavega) that he prefers to stay in the hotel, as it is safer than returning to his house, in Irpin (about 30 kilometers from Kiev)a town recently bombed.
📻⚽🇺🇦 This is how the Opera Hotel in Kiev is now, the hotel where the National Team stayed in 2012 and Madrid in 2018, and from where Sergiy Larionov, head of catering, has attended us
📹 @NikoCastellano pic.twitter.com/UBu9Eq9P4X
– El Larguero (@ellarguero) March 7, 2022
The Thirteenth of Real Madrid
Years later, in 2018, it was Real Madrid who chose this accommodation in the Champions League final, which beat Liverpool 3-1 with a goal from Benzema and two from Bale. In the hotel they keep, Behind glass, an image with Zidane’s Real Madrid line-up in the final in Kiev. Along with it, the signature of the white players.
Remember that day Sergiy the great party that took place in the conference room after the victory of the merengue team, in what was their Thirteenth Champions League. “It was a party room and today it is a bomb shelter. They are preparing him for what may happen. The final was in Kiev and after the match, they had a party in that room”. For the celebration he was in charge of prepare the menualong with the Real Madrid chef.
In the basements, as SER Nico Castellano explains, there are mattresses scattered on the floor, in addition to medicines and food. The reception of it, unlike how it was not long ago, is completely dark. Between hotel staff and guests there are about fifty people staying in it.
“Some stay in their rooms, but heThe majority go down to the shelter because what is happening is very serious. At the moment the hotel is fine, we have food, but the situation seems to be getting complicated. Can be anything. The city works, but not as well as before“, indicates Larionov.
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