Ukrainian footballer Andrei Jarmolenko called on Russian officials to publicly oppose the Russian army’s attack on Ukraine. The 32-year-old offensive player of the English West Ham criticized the Russian football players in a Instagram video for being silent about the war conflict.
“I have a question for the Russian national team: Guys, why are you just sitting like idiots and saying nothing?” asked Jarmolenko, who was born to Ukrainian parents in St. Petersburg. “You kill people in my homeland. Women, mothers, our children. But you don’t say anything, you don’t comment,” he added.
Many Russian footballers know Jarmolenko personally, and they all told him that they did not approve of the fighting. “You’ve all told me that something like this shouldn’t happen, that your president isn’t behaving properly. So guys, you have an influence on people, so show me, please. It’s time to push your elbows out – in real life,” he appealed. .
Teammates Tomáš Souček, Vladimír Coufal and Alex Král were given time off by the club’s management last week after the Russian invasion began. On Tuesday, he rejoined the training, and together with another Ukrainian Premier League star, Oleksandr Zincenko, he published a video calling for an end to the fighting.
Other Ukrainian footballers also performed in the two-minute film. Together, they called for an end to Russian propaganda and for people to help show the truth about the war in Ukraine by all means.
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