In an emotional interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Oleksandr Zinchenko thanked the world for standing with his country.
The Manchester City left-back was named captain for the FA Cup win over Peterborough and carried out the Ukrainian flag before the match, having sat out the previous two league games.
Over a million Ukrainians have fled to safety since Russia invaded the country a week ago.
In many cases the international community has sent weapons or imposed sanctions on Russian companies or individuals.
Gary Lineker spoke to the man about his mission to tell the world what is happening in Ukraine.
You can watch the full interview on Football Focus on Saturday.
At midnight UK time, my wife woke me up and she was crying, as I discovered the invasion had started.
I was shocked. She showed me the videos and pictures.
Maybe the most close feeling is when someone in your circle is dying. You feel bad inside. This is even worse.
He says the emotion keeps hitting him nine days into the war.
I'm just crying. He said that he can just cry from nothing if he can drive the car from the training ground.
Everything is in my head. Imagine the place where you were born. There is nothing on the ground.
Many Ukrainians have stayed to fight Russia, with some who live abroad returning home for the war.
He said he would be there if not for his family.
I'm just born like that. I know the people from my country and they all think the same.
I am proud to be Ukrainian and will be for the rest of my life. The people fight for their lives when you watch them.
The people from my country prefer to die, and they will die. They are not going to give up.
He said he had been overwhelmed by the support he had received from football fans and the British public.
He said he was so grateful for the support he was getting. I didn't know it was going to be that way. I would like to say a big thank you to all of them. I appreciate it.
I am getting a lot of messages from a lot of guys in Ukraine and they are asking me about the videos of support from the UK.
People are watching TV, people are watching football, and they can see all these things, and I guess it helps a lot for them.
Don't give up, the people who are supporting Ukraine are trying to push them. I know my people will not do that.
He feels that his mission is to show that the rest of the world is aware of what is happening in Ukraine.
I spoke with many people who are in favor of us. The way Russian TV is showing us is ridiculous.
My goal is to show the rest of the world what is happening.
There are few cities in the lowest part of the country where people from Russia come and do fake protests, like we want to be with Russia.
I can show you a million pictures. I can show you a million videos. They destroyed every city in my country.
The people are starving. The people are sleeping on the ground and can't live a proper life.
The reason he wanted to do the interview was related to that.
I was thinking about the interview for a while. Should I do it? He asked if he should not. We need to stop the war.
No Russia internationals have spoken out against the invasion.
Russia captain Artem Dzyuba spoke out against his country's suspension from international tournaments and said he was proud to be Russian.
I was surprised that no one from all of them had said anything.
Most of them play in the national team and they have a lot of followers on social media.
They can do something to stop the war. The people can hear them.
I already know that they were scared. They are scared of what. They are not going to do anything with them.
At least they can say their positions, but they don't. I don't know why.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
