brought on by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation's (RHF) mandate that foreign teams pay for the travel, accommodations, and meals of visiting teams. The RHF also demanded that foreign teams pay an annual fee of p.1,500,000 (approx €35,000). Going into the 2009–10 Extraleague season, Sokil elevated team expenditures and signed several Ukrainian players who had been in the Kontinental Hockey League, bolstering the roster with professional names such as Kostiantyn Simchuk, Serhiy Varlamov, and Serhiy Klymentiev. They would face further financial difficulties, losing players along the way (including Varlamov), and finish 4th in the Belarusian league's standings, ultimately falling to Yunost Minsk in the semifinals. Sokil would continue their winning streak in the Ukrainian Championship, however, winning their 12th championship. The team's financial issues continued in the 2010–12 season, however, and apart from losing many key players, the team missed the Belarusian league's playoffs and their streak in the Ukrainian Championship was broken, when they lost to HC Donbas in the finals. For the 2012 season, Sokil withdrew from the Belarusian league and joined the newly formed Professional Hockey League of Ukraine. During its first two years in the PHL, Sokil forfeited its streak of Ukrainian Championships, with rival HC Donbas-2 becoming the new national standard. To make matters worse, the team was mired in financial difficulties, with players alleging that they were not being paid by the team. In December 2013, players on the team went on strike due to not being paid their salaries, which stemmed from sponsorship issues. The team was forced to forfeit games. Team colours and mascot Logo The team's original colors as Dynamo were, hence the nickname that has held to this day ("white-blues"), white and blue. When the Sokil name was adopted, the team changed their colors to red and blue, the same colors of the Kyiv coat of arms of the time. The team would eventually return to its white and blue roots, along with the addition of a darker accent of blue, as well as black. Sokil's primary logo has, since 1973, featured a horse-chestnut leaf, the symbol of the city. This element has remained constant on both the chest piece as well as the shoulder patches throughout the team's history since adopting the "Sokil" name. The adding of a profile image of a falcon was added later on, and the team would return to its white and blue roots. To