Former Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin has revealed how he felt compelled to flee Moscow after the Russian invasion of his native Ukraine.
Voronin, who scored eight times in 75 appearances for the Ukraine national team, had been an assistant at Dynamo Moscow for the last two years after ending his playing career with the Russian capital club in 2014.
He was forced to swiftly evacuate the country with his family to Dusseldorf, where he spent a year of his playing career on loan, via a stop in Amsterdam after Russia launched a large-scale invasion of their neighbours to the south-west on 24 February.
The former Reds forward said the situation in Eastern Europe felt like a “horror film”, and said he was “proud” of his compatriots in Ukraine defending the country from Russian troops.
“We got out of Moscow before it was completely blocked,” Voronin revealed in an interview with German newspaper Bild. “We couldn’t land in Dusseldorf so we flew via Amsterdam. My father, my mother-in-law, my wife and children are here now.
“I’ve been unwell for four days. Really bad. When I see all the pictures from my homeland, when I see the news. It’s all as unreal as a movie. But a horror film. I hardly have any words left.”
Urging Germany to help his fellow Ukrainians, Voronin added: “Stop that son of a b**** Putin, help the refugees. And send weapons so we can defend ourselves.
“I’m so proud of our country. We have beautiful cities, great people. We will keep fighting. And we will win. But the price is so high. All the dead... we live in the year 2022 and not in WWII.
“I have friends in Kharkov, in Kyiv, in my hometown of Odessa. I get messages every five minutes. It’s hard to bear. I just want to help. With money. Whatever... and I don’t know if I should say it: But if I were in Ukraine right now, I’d probably have a gun in my hand too.”
Dynamo Moscow confirmed on Tuesday morning that Voronin’s contract had been ended.
Russia have been banned from all Fifa and Uefa competitions after the invasion.
