Five months to the day since masterminding a Champions League win over Real Madrid, Sheriff Tiraspol manager Yuriy Vernydub has returned to his native Ukraine and signed up to the territorial army.
Vernydub was born in Zhytomyr, a northern city in Ukraine, and has made the decision to return to his homeland from his work managing the football team in Moldova.
A picture posted on social media showed Vernydub in his camouflaged attire, with two army colleagues, as unrest in the country continues following Russia's invasion last week.
Vernydub, 56, will join three-weight boxing world champion Vasyl Lomachenko after he revealed himself in full Ukrainian military uniform having joined the army.
As well as Lomachenko and Vernydub, iconic former Ukrainian boxers Wladimir and Vitaly Klitschko have joined the fight, too.
It has been an incredibly busy few months for Vernydub as he and his players gained global notoriety after defeating Spanish giants Real Madrid in Spain in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Karim Benzema's penalty appeared to have cancelled out Jasurbek Yakhshiboev's opener, only for Vernydub's side to pull off a famous win thanks to Sébastien Thill's 89th minute winner.
Busy fulfilling Sheriff Tiraspol's matches, the war in Ukraine has not been far from the manager's mind, prior to him returning to subscribe to the army.
'I have a wife, two children, two grandchildren, brothers and sisters, I wish them health and that this war does not touch them,' he said last week.
'When I arrive in Moldova, I will ask to go to my family, if they need my help I will always be there.'
He added: 'I want to leave a few words of support for the people in Ukraine, who suffered an attack from Russia. I am proud of the people who are defending the country.'
Overnight, blasts were heard in several of Ukraine's cities including the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv, the country's second biggest city and Chernihiv, north of the capital.
It comes at the start of a crucial 24 hours for the country with tensions at their highest following a threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin to put his nuclear deterrent forces on 'alert'.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv and Moscow will hold peace talks at the northern border with Belarus on Monday, but he has said frankly that he held little hope that the conflict would be resolved. Zelensky will not be part of the delegation in person.
Ukraine's health ministry said on Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, had been killed since Russia's invasion of the country last week. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a 'special operation'.