Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko has said he would help fight Russia in Ukraine if he was called up by his country.
The 27-year-old said “it’s a clear answer” that he would leave London and take up arms, adding that he has donated around £1 million to the cause since the war broke out in 2021.
He told BBC Newsnight: "It's tough to understand that just recently we've been in the same school, we were playing in the playground or on the football pitch, and now they have to defend our country.
"And, honestly, it's so hard to accept this, but it is what it is. We cannot give up."
He went on to call Ukraine a “shield” for Europe, saying it was a “super tough nation”.
Zinchenko, who has played 60 times for Ukraine, also opened up about no longer speaking to his former Russian teammates - his football career began in 2016, when he played for the Russian team Ufa.
He said few had texted him since the invasion but understands this “because this is not their fault”.
The full back said: "I cannot tell them, 'Guys, do the protests outside and all these things', because I know they can be put in prison."
Zinchenko told how Russians and Ukrainians used to call each other “brothers” and “sisters”.
But he added: "We will never forget what they have done to us, to our people. And that's what I will teach my kids as well. And my kids will teach their kids. This is not acceptable."
It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that will lower the country's minimum conscription age from 27 to 25, in a bid to help generate more fighting power in the war.
The leader passed the measure in May 2023 but Mr Zelensky only signed it into law on Tuesday.
It expands the number of civilians the army can mobilise to fight under martial law, which has been in place in the country since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
A second bill will also require men who were given disability waivers to undergo another medical assessment, while another law will create an online database of those eligible for military service.
The Bills could help the military draft more fighters as Ukrainian troops face significant challenges on the battlefield, with a shortage of ammunition and vital funding from the US being blocked by Republicans in Congress for months.
