‘You will be locked in your dungeon for the rest of your life’
Ukrainian defender Vitaliy Mykolenko has criticised the Russian national team and its captain Artem Dzyuba for their silence since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on Thursday, with several cities having already been hit with military attacks.
Premier League clubs showed their support for Ukraine at the weekend – as flags could be seen at the majority of stadiums in the league. Everton left-back and Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko also embraced prior to Saturday’s Premier League match clash between Everton and Manchester City.
The 25-year-old Zinchenko also attended a vigil outside Manchester’s Central Library on Thursday night.
He launched a scathing attack on Putin last week on Instagram, insisting that he wants the Russian president to suffer the ‘most painful suffering death’. Now, just like his fellow Ukrainian, Mykolenko has spoken out against his Russian counterparts.
The national football team of Ukraine and FC Everton football player Vitaliy Mykolenko appealed to the captain of the Russian national team Artem Dzyuba #UkraineRussianWar#PutinWarCriminal#StandWithUkraine#StopWarInUkraine pic.twitter.com/peJroArWfa
— Ukrainian Media_Truth about war in Ukraine (@truth_about_war) March 1, 2022
The 22-year-old criticised Russia captain Artem Dzyuba and his ‘s***head team-mates’ for not speaking out against Putin’s invasion, claiming they will be ‘locked away in a dungeon for the rest of your life’.
“Whilst you remain silent b**** along with your s***head football team-mates, peaceful civilians are being killed in Ukraine,” Mykolenko – who joined Everton in January from Dynamo Kyiv – posted on social media.
“You will be locked in your dungeon for the rest of your life and most importantly the lives of your kids. And I’m glad.”
It comes after the Russian national side were expelled from Qatar World Cup by FIFA, with Poland given a bye to a play-off final against Sweden or Czech Republic later this month.
Zinchenko and Mykolenko are among several Ukrainian footballers who have called on people to help ‘stop the destruction and bloodshed’ in their homeland following Russia’s ongoing invasion.
A number of players, including West Ham attacker Andriy Yarmolenko, filmed a video message appealing to the world for help.
https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1498646624280719362
Fifa and Uefa have since suspended Russia’s national and club teams from all competitions until further notice.
It came after the International Olympic Committee asked all sports to prevent athletes or officials from Russia and Belarus participating in any organised international competitions following the invasion of Ukraine.
The IOC stated that wherever this was not possible, potentially due to organisational or legal reasons, such athletes should be classed as neutrals and not compete under the name Russia or Belarus.
So far, Russian international Fedor Smolov is the only Russian international player to have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine. The Dynamo Moscow striker posted a message calling for the war to be stopped on his Instagram account last week.
Related links:
- Zinchenko and Mykolenko in tears during moving Goodison show of support for Ukraine
- Oleksandr Zinchenko attends protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine in Manchester
- Oleksandr Zinchenko claims Instagram deleted his post telling Vladimir Putin to die
