Former Russia captain Igor Denisov speaks against Russian president Putin as he faces death. The former Zenith St Petersburg man has become one of the highest-profile athletes who is still living in the country to speak against the war in Ukraine.
Russian captain Igor Denisov Speaks Against Putin over Ukraine Invasion
Denisov have a total of 54 caps for his country Russia, he played between 2008 and 2016, he called the invasion a “catastrophe” and a “complete horror”. The ex-midfielder made the comments in an interview with a sports journalist which was later published on YouTube.
According to him, he said: “Maybe they’ll put me in jail or kill me for these words, but I’m telling it like it is.” The 38-year-old played more than 300 games for Zenit St Petersburg before ending his playing career with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2019.
Igor Denisov said he “loved his country” and did not want to leave Russia. He has written to Russian President Vladimir Putin to express his opposition to the invasion, which started on 24 February.
“I am a proud guy. This was after three or four days,” Denisov added. “I even said to him that I am ready to go on my knees before you so that he would stop it all.” The player is among the very few people that have openly opposed the Russian president. Recently, Nadya Karpova, a striker for the women’s national team who now lives in Spain, spoke out against the invasion.
During Denisov’s interview with Arustamyan, certain words used by him to refer to Russian actions in Ukraine appear to have been blanked out, with a crackling sound played instead.
