Ukrainian researcher Christine Karelska has always loved football. When she took a course in international relations at the Estonian School of Diplomacy in Tallinn, it was the perfect opportunity to dig even deeper into the politics of her favorite sport.

"It was really interesting to look at football from the academic point of view, using lots of international relations theories," Karelska tells me.

"Of course people were surprised," she admits, "especially the professors. Because this topic is quite unique from an academic point of view – it's really weird to study football as a science," she laughs.

But Karelska was determined. She knew football played a serious role in international soft power and soon convinced those around her that it was an important field of study. "They got used to it," she smiles, "and even delved into football themselves."

While at the Estonian School of Diplomacy, Karelska examined the 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar. "This mega sporting event allowed Qatar to boost its status on the international arena," Karelska explains, adding that the 2022 World Cup took place against "a backdrop of flagrant human rights violations" particularly those of women, LGBTQ people and migrant workers.

Her research reinforced the view that "football is not just a game adored by billions of people – it's a powerful, soft tool which can unite nations in times of uncertainty or give hope for a better future, [but also] divide."

World football governing body FIFA's approach to diplomacy has not always been used to improve social well-being, Karelska explains.

"It [often] pursues corrupt interests and huge revenues, and whitewashes autocratic regimes," she says, pointing to FIFA's decision to hold the 2018 World Cup in Russia as one prominent example.

Less than four years after that competition, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of her country.

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In the spring of 2022, soon after Russia's attack on Ukraine began, Karelska was working for a think tank in Warsaw. With thousands of Ukrainians crossing the border into Poland to escape the war, she decided to focus her research on something much closer to home.

"I was really interested in how [Ukrainian] women's football was going to develop in the context of the full-scale war," Karelska tells me, adding that before Russia's full-scale attack, the women's game in Ukraine received little attention or investment.

The security situation meant all domestic football in Ukraine was put on hold. Many of the country's top women players left the country, signing what they hoped would be short-term deals at new clubs across Europe as they waited for things to return to normal.

It was during this time that Karelska started conducting interviews with members of the Ukrainian women's national team. They opened up to her about football, politics and their personal experiences of living with war.

Two days before Russia's full-scale invasion began, Ukraine defeated Bulgaria to win the 2022 Turkish Women's Cup. Striker Olga Ovdiychuk stayed in Turkey after the game to take part in a training camp with her club, though most of her teammates headed back to Ukraine.

Ovdiychuk described herself to Karelska as one of the lucky ones. On the morning of February 24, 2022, as the first wave of Russian attacks was launched, she immediately began calling other members of the squad.

"[Ovdiychuk] is the one who told me that the war had started," Ukrainian international goalkeeper Iryna Sanina said in an interview with Karelska. Sanina was at home in Irpin with her husband and children that morning when she received a 7 a.m. call from Ovdiychuk.

She then noticed smoke appearing over the nearby Hostomel airbase. Shortly after, "the first fighter [jet] that fell in Bucha was shot down right above us."

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The stories they shared with Karelska echo the experiences of millions of other Ukrainians. The emotions they conveyed were the same felt by everyone connected to Ukraine during this war.

However, in times like these, Karelska points out, international sports stars also have an important role to play for Ukraine. "Our athletes allow us to speak loudly in the world," she says. "They voice our concerns in the international arena."

One prominent example came in July 2023, when Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan made global headlines for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent after defeating her at the World Championships in Milan. "Ukrainian athletes are ready to face Russians on the sports field, but we will never shake hands with them," Kharlan said afterwards.

High-profile incidents like Kharlan's have helped keep Ukraine's struggle in the international sporting headlines. They also back up the assertions of researchers like Karelska that sports and politics should in no way be seen as separate.

The Ukrainian women's football team have not grabbed the international media's attention in quite the same way as Kharlan. "But these women are our ambassadors, too," Karelska says. While playing abroad, for both club and country, the players not only raise awareness and funds to support Ukraine but also meet regularly with members of the Ukrainian diaspora.

In one interview, midfielder Natiia Pantsulaia told Karelska how a meeting with displaced Ukrainians in Rzeszów, Poland had left her with "double emotions – both positive and negative."

"The fans were crazy, even though there weren't many of them, they made this buzz in the stadium. No matter what the score was, their eyes were glowing," Pantsulaia said.

"No matter where you meet a Ukrainian now, you are like a sister or a brother. You're on the same page and immediately find a common language. But there is another side of the coin," she added. "You understand what they have lost, what they feel – because they have seen it all."

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Karelska experienced one of those meetings between players and fans up close during her time at the Estonian School of Diplomacy.

In April 2023, the Ukrainian women's national team came to Tallinn for an international friendly against their Estonian counterparts. "Ukraine won, 1-0," Karelska smiles.

After the game, some of the Ukrainian players told Karelska how impressed they were with the training facilities on offer in Estonia as well as the welcome they received in Tallinn. "It was comfortable [for them] to train and comfortable to play," Karelska says.

"There were lots of Ukrainians there [for the match], and lots of children, who all came to support the team," she tells me. Also among the crowd was Ukraine's then-Ambassador to Estonia, Mariana Betsa.

"It was really nice to see her in the stands. She arrived right before the kick-off and rooted for our team together with the fans," says Karelska, adding that afterwards, they all posed together – players and spectators alike – for a "family photo" to remember the occasion.

"Of course, the weather was a bit rough, because it's cold in Estonia. But that's understandable – It was also a challenge for me while I was studying there," she laughs.

Whatever the weather, the atmosphere in the stadium was "very warm" that day, Karelska says. "And it was really emotional. As always."

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It's December 2024 when I speak to Karelska on Zoom. She's in Odesa – the historic port city on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, where she works as an assistant to the vice mayor.

As it turns out, we're lucky to be able to have a conversation at all. The previous evening, her electricity had been cut off. "When they cut off electricity, they cut off the internet as well," Karelska says. "It's getting dark at 4, or 5 p.m., and it's very difficult to sit in the darkness," she tells me. "It's not so great, but it is what it is."

"We've got a full-scale war going on in our country and there are lots of challenges including infrastructure, energy security and lack of ammunition. But despite all these challenges, despite the security situation in Ukraine, women's football brings some sense of normality amid the daily tragedies," Karelska says, "and it is gaining popularity."

One shining example she tells me about is that of her local club – the Odesa Seasters. Formed during the war, the Seasters now boast a multinational squad, and also have players from all over Ukraine – some of whom escaped to Odesa from areas under Russian occupation.

Despite being a young club, the Seasters have already been promoted to the Ukrainian Women's Premier League. They now have eyes on qualifying for Europe once the season resumes this spring. "It's just a sign that even with the war, football is alive, and these women can play, and they can win, against all odds," says Karelska.

Naturally, the war remains a constant presence, even on matchdays. While for safety reasons the number of fans able to watch games in the stadium remains strictly limited, the Seasters donate the money they do earn from games to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Before kick-off they also pay their respects to those on the front line fighting to defend Ukraine.

"Before each match, we've got this tradition where the players take to the field with Ukrainian flags and honor the memory of the fallen heroes at the front with a minute of silence," Karelska explains.

"It's very moving to see."

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Some still dismiss football, and sports in general, as unimportant, especially during times of war. But in Ukraine, Karelska is far from alone in highlighting the potential power of sports diplomacy in her country's fight for survival.

"It's part of our culture, and our national identity," she says. That same point was also made a few days before our Zoom call, by Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

At a sports diplomacy conference in Kyiv last December, Yermak compared Ukraine's situation to "Fergie time" – the decisive period at the end of a game when Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering Manchester United team of the 1990s and early 2000s invariably "launched brilliant counterattacks and secured victories."

Ferguson's success was down to "hard work, teamwork, and strict principles," Yermak said –  three values that ensured his team never gave up until achieving victory.

Ukraine is now definitely in Fergie time, Yermak told his country's top athletes at the conference.

"All Ukrainians need to gather all their strength and resilience to win this battle for the future. We are counting on you. Each one of you is a diplomat, an ambassador of Ukraine. You represent our culture, our will to win, and our dream of peace."

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Plenty of things have changed since I spoke to Karelska in December 2024, and Yermak made that "Fergie time" speech. But as the war goes on, the role of Ukraine's sportsmen and women, including its footballers, is just as important as ever.

And Christine Karelska's desire to continue her research on Ukrainian women's football also remains defiantly undiminished.

"I want people to know about Ukrainian women's football, and about our women football players. I want people to read their stories, to know how they play and how they live," she says. "And to help them as well."

"We have to pay more attention to soft power, not just hard power," Karelska continues, "and women's football is an important part of this geopolitical game in the international arena."

"If politics can repair the damage caused by wars, then sports can sometimes repair the damage caused by politics."

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