Ukrainian Footballer Alexander Zinchenko Criticizes Russian Silence in Interview with Piers Morgan

Ukrainian footballer of London Arsenal Alexander Zinchenko gave an interview to the famous journalist Piers Morgan.

As Morgan himself noted on his Twitter, the reason for the interview is the Game4Ukraine charity match (August 5, 18:00 Kyiv time), during which funds will be raised for the restoration of Ukraine.

Zinchenko spoke briefly about the period in Ufa, and also stated that he did not understand why the Russians were silent, and cited Igor Denisov as an example:

– I had experience in Russia. Some people in Ukraine don’t like it, and to be honest, neither do I. I can only say thank you to Ufa for the fact that they took me to the team without any screenings. Then I had a difficult situation with Shakhtar. After “Ufa” I signed a contract with Manchester City. For this I can say thank you, but for the rest… For the reaction after the start of the war… No reaction from the club, no reaction from any club from Russia, no reaction from the players. I have never seen their statements and I do not understand why.

I had a correspondence with a very famous athlete at that time in Russia. He is not a football player. I won’t say his name, but he is very famous. I am subscribed to his Instagram and he asked me why I am doing this (I condemn the Russians – ed.). I told him, “Look, it’s been 3 months since the invasion, but you haven’t said anything. You have millions of followers, you haven’t even posted a single picture of these horrible things.”

I will never understand this. If this happened to Ukraine and Ukraine attacked someone, then I swear that I would be the first to ask for this to be stopped and never come back.

– They fear for their lives? After all, Putin can kill those who do not support him.

– I’ll give another example. There was a footballer, a former footballer, he played for Lokomotiv, Dynamo Moscow, he was the captain of the Russian national football team. His name is Igor Denisov. He gave one interview. He said: “If I was still playing, after February 24, I would have retired.” And what happened to him? I did not hear. Is he in prison? Here is an example. Guy with big balls. Said in front of 140 million people. And this is a normal reaction from a normal person. But, unfortunately, there are few of them.