With two teams playing in empty stadiums hundreds of miles away from their hometowns, the Ukrainian football league kicked off its new season Tuesday after a heartwarming ceremony to pay homage to those who fought in the war with Russia.

The opening match at Kyiv’s 65,500-seat Olympic stadium – where spectators are not allowed in – saw two teams from the war-torn east of the country, Shaktar Donetsk and Metalist 1925, draw 0-0. The results, however, will always be an afterthought.

It was the first top-level football game to be played in the country since the Russian invasion in February, and the decision to restart the league has been hailed as a defiant sign that Ukraine is ready to restore normal life. Although this game feels far from normal.

Ukraine remains under martial law and large public gatherings have been banned in the capital ahead of Wednesday’s Independence Day holiday over fears of a potential Russian bombing.

Police stood guard outside the turnstiles, where weeds grew after the stadium closed six months ago, but no fans came to the arena. Three more league games are scheduled for Tuesday night.

“This is a job … to show the world that life in Ukraine does not stop but continues,” Shakhtar coach Igor Jovicevic said before the opening match. “Football is something that can stir the emotions of entire countries and people who fight for all of us.

“So football is very important for us individually, as a team, not only for Shakhtar but also for the entire Ukrainian Premier League. It helps to keep it alive and shows the world that football goes on.”

Players from both teams entered the pitch with the blue and yellow Ukrainian national flags slung over their shoulders and a minute’s silence was observed while the names of Ukrainian cities where people died in the war were shown on the big screen.

Players wave Ukrainian flags at the stadium that once belonged to Danylo Myhal, a Canadian of Ukrainian descent. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Myhal ran across the field carrying a flag during a match between the Soviet Union and East Germany. Dressed in an embroidered shirt, he danced a Ukrainian folk dance before being arrested.

“[Myhal] always dreamed of bringing his flag to Ukraine and today it finally happened,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a televised address before kickoff. “It was flown today at the opening of the Ukrainian football championship.”