"Sirens Every Other Day." Russian footballer from "Sevastopol" shared his experience of how scary it was to travel to Crimea

Sevastopol defender Lev Potapov has admitted that he was initially apprehensive about moving to the Crimean peninsula. According to the 31-year-old footballer, he was particularly anxious during his first trip there.

"When I first traveled to Crimea by train, I was scared. Now, passing through the checkpoints has become more familiar. The bus is driven into an X-ray chamber, you take all your belongings for inspection. The people there already recognize us," Potapov said in an interview with sports.ru.

The Russian athlete rented an apartment, and a few weeks later, at night, something crashed into a shipyard that was just two stops away from his residence.

"The impact was so powerful that I thought my balcony frame would fly through the front door. Of course, I woke up. I heard explosions, air defense systems in action, intercepting something in the sky. I looked out the window and saw flashes. It was difficult to fall back asleep, as you're always on edge. When I arrived at training, my teammates asked me, 'How are you doing?' and I replied, "Well, how do you think?",  I just looked at them, and my clothes were already packed into my bag," Potapov shared.

The Sevastopol footballer revealed that shelling occurs on a regular basis. 

"I used to see interviews with people from the frontline areas who said, 'We've gotten used to it.' I never truly understood this until I experienced it myself. But it's true – you do get used to it. Yes, there are explosions. Naturally, missiles and drones are being intercepted. Three weeks ago, sirens were going off every day. Then, for a week, there was complete silence, but now it happens about once a day. Recently, we were returning from a trip to Makhachkala. We waited at the checkpoint for two or three hours because the Crimean bridge was closed," Potapov concluded.

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