German coach Sandro Schwarz returns to Dynamo Moscow

German coach Sandro Schwarz has returned to Dynamo Moscow despite Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and signed a contract until 2029.

Schwarz coached Dynamo between 2020 and 2022, leaving only several months after the start of the invasion as he cited a special bond with the players.

Looking at his return now, Schwarz told dpa he was aware that "this is difficult for some people to understand from the outside.

"But for me, personal reasons play a major role; the contact I have with many friends there, which existed long before the war, has never been broken.

“I’m not turning a blind eye to the war. But first and foremost, I’m the coach of a club that means a great deal to me.”

Schwarz coached German side Hertha Berlin after his 2022 return and was last in charge of Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls.

Schwarz is not the first German coach in Russia since the start of the war. Josef Zinnbauer joined Lokomotiv Moscow in the summer of 2022 but was sacked after three months.

In the past season the Russian Premier League also had coaches from Spain and Switzerland.