Yaroslav Rakitskiy

On 28 January 2019, he signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Some Ukrainians have derided Rakitskiy as a "traitor" for moving to the Russian league, as Zenit are based in Russia and the War in Donbass was ongoing, despite the fact that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, another famous Ukrainian footballer, is also working as assistant manager for Zenit.

When Rakitsky subsequently retired from the national team in 2019, he said, "Big football turned into big politics. Those who call up people for the national team are driven by fear."

He scored in the final as Shakhtar beat rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Cup final.

He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk on 10 July, keeping a clean sheet. He managed clean sheets in a 6–0 win against Arsenal Kyiv on 15 July, a 1–0 victory over Kryvbas on 29 July and a 4–0 win over Volyn Lutsk on 6 September. On 26 August he assisted Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the third goal in a 3–0 victory over Karpaty Lviv and kept a clean sheet. and was named Man of the Match. On 15 September he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against Zorya Luhansk.

Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season. On 29 October Yaroslav picked up a red card in a 3–2 victory over Oleksandria, after receiving two yellow cards. His first goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at the Donbass Arena on 7 April. He scored another goal a few weeks later in a 3–1 victory over Tavriya. He finished the season with 2 goals in 37 appearances, 27 of which were in the league. Shakhtar won the Premier League title for the third year in a row and also retained the Ukrainian Cup in a 2–1 extra time victory over Metalurh Donetsk. Oleksandr Kucher scored the winning goal, after a rebound from Rakytskiy's shot.

Rakytskiy started the 2010–11 with success in the Super Cup as Shakhtar comprehensively defeated Tavriya 7–1. His first league goal came in a 3–1 victory over Kryvbas on 10 July 2010. He also scored Shakhtar's only goal in a 6–1 aggregate lose to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final, scoring in the 5–1 first leg defeat at Camp Nou. He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Ukrainian Cup win over Dynamo Kyiv. He made a total of 34 appearances in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice as Shakhtar retained the Premier League title.

He is also a member of the Ukraine national football team, he made his first team appearance for Ukraine national football team on 10 October 2009 and scored his first goal on 14 October of the same year. Rakitskiy has amassed over 50 caps for Ukraine and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016.

He moved up to the first team during the 2009–10 season, making his debut, at the age of 20, in a 6–1 Ukrainian Cup win against Dnister Ovidiopol (now called FC Odesa). He made his league debut for the club 16 days later, coming as a substitute on 31 August in a 3–1 victory over Zorya Luhansk. His first goal for Shakhtar came in the following round of the Ukrainian Cup in a 3–1 victory over Yednist' Plysky. He also set up the third goal of the match for Oleksandr Gladkiy. Rakytskiy scored his second goal of the season in a 4–1 group stage win over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League. He ended his first season in the Shakhtar first team with 37 appearances, of which 24 came in the league, and 2 goals. He picked his first trophy at Shakhtar, with the team winning the league.

Rakitskiy made his debut for the national team on 10 October 2009, at the age of 20, in a 1–0 victory over England in a World Cup qualifier. His first goal for Ukraine came just four days later and a 6–0 win against Andorra. He scored his second goal in a 2–1 friendly win over Chile on 7 September 2010 and scored his third goal in another friendly match, a 2–2 draw with Romania which saw Ukraine take victory 4–2 in a penalty shootout and the finals of this tournament came out (Cyprus International Football Tournaments 2011

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Rakitskiy (Ukrainian: Ярослав Володимирович Ракицький , pronounced [jɐroˈslɑu̯ woloˈdɪmɪrowɪtʃ rɐˈkɪtsʲkɪj] ; Russian: Ярослав Владимирович Ракицкий ; born 3 August 1989) is a Ukrainian footballer currently playing as a defender for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. He is best known for his passing ability and free-kicks.