Every day Mykola Kukharevych wakes up to play football, he keeps friends and family back home on his mind.

Over two years into Russia's invasion of his native Ukraine, the 23-year-old still hasn't been able to lay eyes upon so many of them, with only his mother and sister able to escape the horrors, even then for all-too brief visits. It's clearly a difficult subject for the forward to tackle, and he still does not know when he will be able to return to his homeland.

Reports he receives suggest things are not quite so awful as the horrifying scenes which were broadcast around the world back in 2022, but you sense he suspects the people of Ukraine have somehow just found a way to live with the daily threat of bombardment.

Football offers a release, he says, and in returning to Hibs on-loan after a year spently mostly on the sidelines at Swansea City, he has, at least, come back to a place which holds fond memories. But his loved ones, some of them on the frontlines, are never too far away from his thoughts.

“Obviously it’s hard for me, a hard question," says Kukharevych. "Since the war, I haven’t been home yet. It’s hard to get there now. And it’s also not allowed to even invite all of my family to come here. Only my mum and my sister have visited here. The rest of the family, I haven’t seen them since the start of the war. They can’t come here - and I haven’t been home. So it’s hard.

“I am in contact with them, of course. Every day. Home is in the west of Ukraine. So my mum and sister have been over a few times, just for a vacation. They have told me about everything at home. From what they tell me, it’s not as bad as it was at the start of the war. But you never know what can happen every day, they know that.

“People have grown used to living with things every day – attacks, sirens, bombs, they know to expect it. It’s very dangerous, very scary, yet they are used to it now. For me, focusing on football is almost like a habit now. And football helps me to switch off from the situation back home.

“When I come to training or a game, when I step on the football pitch, I absolutely turn my mind onto the game. I try to enjoy myself, enjoy the team, enjoy the job I’m doing. That helps. Some of my friends, people I know, they are right there on the front line. I spoke to them sometimes. But it’s not good to speak, because people can overhear what we’re talking about, get information. We have to be careful what we say. We have to ask simple questions, nothing specific about where they are or what is happening."

Football is small-fry in comparison, but Kukharevych takes inspiration from his countrymen and women. And he hopes that one day soon, 'the right people' can help bring their suffering to an end.

“Of course I am inspired by them," he said. "They are big people, great people, who stay on the line now. We cannot imagine what they are feeling, staying and fighting for your place, for your children, for your future. Every day is so hard for them. We have to help them as much as we can – and ask the right people to help stop the war.

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“But football means the people they can switch their minds off from the war. Every day there is news about the fighting, some good, some bad, but always this tension. Football can be a bit of a release of emotions. They are following all the Ukrainian Championship, our teams competing in Europe, the national team, Olympic games now, it’s helping a bit.

“As players who are playing abroad, they’re also following us. They enjoy it if we do well. I don’t feel a responsibility. The most responsibility I feel is to me, for myself. I put pressure on myself to achieve as much as I can every day.

“When Hibs called, I was happy, because I had a good time here before. I enjoyed it. So I think I can keep scoring goals, keep playing well. My only goal is to help the team. Scoring. Keep scoring more and more goals."