´óÏó´«Ã½

In the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several Ukrainian footballers have voiced their support for their country, including Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Ukraine's greatest ever player, Andriy Shevchenko. Roman Yaremchuk revealed the Ukraine emblem, the trident, after scoring for Benfica against Ajax. A few hours after the invasion begain, Mani spoke to the footballer Evgeniy Levchenko, who was born in Donetsk, now known as the Donetsk People's Republic. He left Ukraine to play abroad, long before the start of the conflict in 2014, but still has family there.

Evgeniy Levchenko, who played nine times for Ukraine, talks about the anxiety about his aunt's safety in Sievierodonesk as she comes to terms with war in her country. He is concerned that the Ukrainian players who are due to play international matches won't feel mentally prepared, and that Russia should be suspended from the World Cup.

"I think Russia should be disqualified from this [World Cup] tournament, or they will use it for their own purpose."

Photo: Evgeniy Levchenko during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Vitesse Arnhem and RKC Waalwijk at Gelredome on february 23, 2014 in Arnhem, The Netherlands(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)

Show less