It is time for set-piece drills at LNZ Cherkasy's sleek training complex. "Arsenal!" a player calls out laughing as the physical contest at a corner begins, the humor rippling through the others gathered in the box. That is the standard everyone must aim for, yet they are moving closer. This week a team from what was previously one of Ukraine's football backwaters will make its European debut in a wartime success story with few modern parallels.

"We are making history," the LNZ forward Mark Assinor says once the pushing ends and training concludes. "But there has been a shift in mindset here and I believe this is just the beginning for the club."

On Thursday they will meet the Belgian outfit Gent, experienced campaigners at this level, in the second qualifying round of the Conference League. LNZ secured that spot last season by finishing second in Ukraine's top division: a stunning feat given they competed in fourth-tier football as recently as 2021 and only became professional the year prior.

One of the first signs after a long six-mile journey across the Dnipro river is a billboard stating: "Cherkasy, football centre of Ukraine" in LNZ's bold purple shade. The nation's geographic core lies nearby but the local side now radiates drive and confidence. LNZ led the table at the midpoint of 2025-26, ultimately placing behind the power of Shakhtar Donetsk, yet something notable has emerged anyway.

"No one expected anything from us," says Vasyl Kayuk. He sits in a restaurant opposite the club's central offices, finishing a post-training meal prepared for the squad. At 26, Kayuk is the youngest chief executive in Ukrainian top-flight history. "The biggest motivation and advantage is that you are young and nobody believes in you." Together with a similarly youthful, dynamic team he aims to reshape the norm.

"The city never had anything similar to this," Kayuk says. LNZ have existed for 20 years but, in a football landscape heavily affected since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, represent a rare case of a club expanding swiftly. Their owners, a local agribusiness after which the club is named, have invested with clear intent despite ongoing national challenges and the goal is to create lasting success that shines as a symbol for Ukraine.

"We always say that we are not sprinters, we are marathon runners," he says. "We want to build our club and become stable." LNZ surpassed every forecast in only their third top-flight campaign, having placed 12th the season before. When they stunned with a 4-1 victory at Shakhtar last October, Assinor among the scorers, an unlikely title push began. A series of draws later allowed Shakhtar to pull clear but steps are underway to keep LNZ as genuine challengers.

A rare senior presence in such a young group, their manager Vitaliy Ponomaryov offers words of caution. "I don't think that, if we celebrate this success today, it will be of use to us tomorrow," he says, back at the training ground. "I literally told the players today that we have to forget everything, set new goals, and continue to grow."

In some ways the 52-year-old Ponomaryov comes from the Ukrainian traditional school: a direct and straightforward coach not prone to excess praise. Yet he brings unexpected experience, including time as an assistant referee in top-flight matches during the 2000s. Since arriving last year from Rukh Lviv, where he collaborated with Kayuk, he has built a versatile, effective side at ease in varied approaches.

"It had been difficult the previous season but he has come in and given us a winning mentality," Assinor says. The Ghanaian emerged as a standout in 2024 after spells with lesser-known sides in Poland and Slovakia, fitting a recruitment approach that avoids large transfer fees. "When we realised we had a chance of achieving something, everyone started to believe. He motivated everybody when he came in."

LNZ will host the first leg against Gent in the Polish city Plock. Ukrainian clubs must still stage their European ties abroad due to the uncertain conditions at home. This affects every aspect of life even at a lively, forward-thinking club like this. In the training ground gym one of the physios, Artur Pohorilyi, recounts his time as a war medic and how he survived an explosion near Izyum in 2023. A club doctor, Roman Mishchenko, devotes time to a hospital for injured soldiers in Cherkasy to which LNZ also contribute funds. Mishchenko also supports Ukraine's advanced system for amputee footballers.

A few miles along the river, in a converted Soviet-era sanatorium, LNZ's academy base develops the talents of the future. The under-16s coach, Alexei Bulgakov, worked for the now-inactive FC Mariupol before Russia attacked and seized the city. He managed to flee but the price, his home lost and separation from his family, was immense. Bulgakov speaks vividly about a life immersed in local football, describing the matches between 52 teams of workers at Mariupol's vast Ilyich steel plant.

Among his current players are several youngsters from illegally occupied regions of Ukraine. Some of their parents remain in those areas. "We speak to each other, talk about sights and buildings in our cities, and expect that some day we will be able to return," he says. "The club understands how hard things are for young players from these areas, and it's very happy to give them opportunities."

They hope for futures in a quickly growing LNZ structure. The training ground is new and impressive by Ukrainian measures but viewed as only 35% finished, with three more pitches, an indoor dome and new stadium planned for the location. That work may take five more years. Attendances at their older city-centre ground tripled last season to over 2,000, which is notable in wartime. Children below 14 can enter free and a matchgoing culture is developing around a city finally gaining recognition in elite football.

"We want to make this city purple, our special colour," Kayuk says. "This club is for our people but we also want Ukrainians to associate themselves with us, with the country's centre. And that when they think of Cherkasy, they think of football. We want to become a real power in our league." A battle with Arsenal's set-piece experts still appears distant, but Gent could be the first overseas opponents to encounter the purple wave's rising strength.