Malinovskyi is a Ukrainian international
Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi revealed a shirt underneath his Atalanta top which read “No war in Ukraine” after he scored on Thursday night.
Malinovskyi, who is a Ukrainian international, scored during the Italian side’s Europa League second leg tie against Olympiacos where he revealed the shirt showing support for his country.
Ukrainian international Ruslan Malinovskyi with a "No war in Ukraine" shirt after scoring a goal for Atalanta. pic.twitter.com/xW0lGyPb2W
— Amos Murphy (@AmosMurphy_) February 24, 2022
It follows after Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday morning that Russian troops would begin a full-scale invasion in Ukraine on multiple fronts, with ‘hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops reportedly dead.
Putin announced that he planned to “de-Nazify” the country and warned the West will face “consequences never encountered in your history” should they try to intervene.
Multiple explosions have also been heard in cities across the country whilst harrowing footage from Ukrainians posted to social media has shown missiles flying across the sky and crashing into airports.
Malinovskyi himself had already posted on social media on Thursday morning, informing people of what is happening in his home country and what people can do to help support.
He tweeted: “Ukraine under attack right NOW. Please, spread the word and pray for our country!” before following that up with a prayer emoji as well as details on how people can help.
https://twitter.com/malinovskyi18/status/1496785537595756546
Malinovskyi has followed several other Ukrainian internationals in posting his support for his country. On Wednesday, striker Yaremchuk unveiled the trident emblem in support of his homeland.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaWxuCCMY19/
Meanwhile, Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko claimed that Instagram had deleted a post in which he hoped Vladimir Putin suffers the ‘most painful suffering death,’ responding by saying he ‘can’t stand back’ while ‘the whole civilised world is concerned about my country.’
Dynamo Moscow and Russian international Fedor Smolov became the first high-profile Russian sportsman to come out and publicly condemn his country’s president’s actions in a post which read: “No to war” followed by the Ukrainian flag.
Smolov has spoken out against Putin's invasion of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/ugUjbvo58q
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 24, 2022
Related links:
- Man Utd’s Russian airline sponsorship banned from UK as part of new sanctions
- Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic issue joint statement against playing in Russia
- Brazilian footballers stranded in Ukraine beg government to evacuate them
