Fedor Smolov: First Russian Footballer To Condemn Invasion Of Ukraine, Fedor Smolov: No War!

JAKARTA - Fedor Smolov joins a number of other footballers who condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Interestingly, Smolov is the first Russian footballer to firmly oppose this.

Quoted from the Daily Star, Friday, the Dynamo Moscow bomber used his personal social media account to speak out against Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine last Thursday.

In his post on Instagram, Smolov firmly asked that the war be stopped. Not only that, he also pinned a broken heart emoji and a Ukrainian flag as his sympathy.

“No war!!!” Smolov wrote in the caption.

What Smolov shows that his country's way is not only criticized by other countries. But also the Russians themselves.

The same source also said that Smolov's criticism had the support of Russian athletes in various other sports.

"In these moments you realize that my matches are not important. It's not about my match, how it (the war) affects me," said tennis player Andrey Rublev after victory at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships.

“We have to take care of our earth and each other. This is the most important thing.” said volleyball player and two-time Olympic silver medalist, Ekaterina Gamova.

“I will remember this day for the rest of my life, when I said 'the war has begun'. I looked at my son and tears flowed. God help me." added Russia's number one chess player, Ian Nepomniachtchi as a form of criticism.