Manchester City defender, Oleksandr Zinchenko wished death upon the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin over the assault upon Ukraine.
Recall that on Thursday, February 24, 2022, President Putin ordered the Russian military to invade Ukraine. Since then, the Russian military have been causing havoc on the country.
Russia’s military attacks on Ukraine have attracted a series of criticism against Russia and many countries especially the United Kingdom have rolled out different degrees of sections against the country.
On his part, Oleksandr Zinchenko who was born in Ukraine on December 15, 1996, and grew up in the country before football took him out of the country in 2015, lost his cool over Putin’s show of power on Ukraine. Hence, the 25-year-old Ukrainian footballer took to his Instagram page to share a write-up to express his anger against Putin.
Oleksandr Zinchenko shared an Instagram post in which he wished that Putin dies “the most painful suffering death”. He also referred to the Russian president as a “scum”.
Hours after, the Instagram post was deleted. Reports claimed that it was not the Manchester City defender that deleted the post but the handlers of Instagram.
The Instagram story made in Russian read: “I hope you die the most painful death, scum!”
Before he shared the Instagram post which has been deleted, Oleksandr Zinchenko took to Instagram to post the map of Ukraine.
In the caption, Zinchenko wrote: “The whole civilized world is worried about the situation in my country. I can’t stay away and try to convey my opinion. In the photo – my country.
“The country where I was born and raised. A country whose colors I defend in the international sports arena. A country that we try to glorify and develop. A country whose borders must remain inviolable.
“My country belongs to Ukrainians and no one will ever be able to appropriate it. We will not give up! Glory to Ukraine”.
Premier League shows support to Oleksandr Zinchenko
Ahead of the kick time of the Premier League match between Manchester City and Everton on Saturday, February 26, 2022, Oleksandr Zinchenko of Manchester City exchanged a heart-touching embrace with his countryman, Vitaliy Mykolenko of Everton during the pre-match warm-up at Goodison Park.
Both Manchester City and Everton players wore warm-up kits that have the Ukrainian flag and “No War” embroidered on them.
When the players of both teams stepped out for the game, the Premier League anthem was suspended and Everton displayed the Ukrainian flags on their pitchside advertisement boards.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko were benched by their separate teams for the game due to the psychological trauma they might be going through due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
In the pre-match press conference of the league match that ended 1-0 in favor of Manchester City, the coach of Man City, Pep Guardiola said: “He (Zinchenko) is worried. He has family and friends there. If they are killing innocent people in your country, how would you feel?
“What we feel with our country where we were born. I guess that’s how he feels. The team and the club are close to him, unconditionally.”
While the manager of Everton said of Mykolenko: “He’s okay. I’ve spoken to him, the club have spoken to him. He has every bit of support from our end, if and when he needs it. He knows that the support mechanism is there. It’s ultra-important that he feels that from us.”
After the 1-0 win over Everton, Zinchenko who reportedly earns £1,040,000-per-year at Manchester City, took to his Instagram page to thank Manchester City for their support.
