On September 26, 2021, Kremenchuk and Ukraine national hockey team forward Andri Deniskin made a racist gesture of eating a banana in front of former Arizona Coyotes prospect Jalen Smereck. Smereck who is Black took offence to this and so did many other black players. Current and former NHL players Nazem Kadri, J.T. Brown, Anthony Duclair, Georges Laraque and Akim Aliu came to Smereck's support, along with them at the time UHL general manager Yevgeni (Eugene) Kolychev also came to his aide. On September 29, Deniskin was given a 13-game suspension with an option to void 10 games of it for the Ukrainian equivalent of US$1,870. This outraged many hockey fans, players and teams alike, and due to this Smereck stated that he wouldn't play in the UHL until Deniskin was given a heavier punishment. On September 30, 2021, the aforementioned Kolychev was fired by the league, causing more outrage online. However, he stated he will continue supporting Smereck regardless. On October 10, 2021, Smereck and Donbass agreed to a mutual termination, ending his time in the UHL.
Ice hockey in Ukraine