Brazilian soccer players who play for Ukrainian clubs on Thursday asked the government of their country to help them evacuate after the Russian invasion, in a video in which they appear confined with their families in a hotel in Kiev.
“We are in a hotel due to this whole situation. (…) We ask for the support of the Brazilian government, which can help us, and you so that this video reaches the largest possible number of viewers”, said defender Marlon, 26, one of the thirteen Brazilian players of Shakhtar Donetsk , frequent participant in the Champions League.
One of the thirteen soccer players born in Brazil, the striker Junior Moraes, is a Ukrainian citizen.
In the video posted on Instagram, several players appear standing in a hotel lounge, including attacker David Neres, recently signed by Shakhtar from Ajax Amsterdam, and Vitinho, from Dynamo Kiev.
Uruguayan midfielder Carlos de Pena, from the Dynamo, also appears.
In front of them, several of their wives and two children appear looking at the camera, sitting on a sofa.
“We are feeling a bit abandoned, we don’t know what to do. We run out of the house with a change of clothes, we will not know if we will have food, that is why we wanted to appeal for help”, says one of them.
The Brazilian embassy in Ukraine reported in a statement that it “remains open” to ensure the “protection of some 500 nationals”, whom it asked to “keep in daily contact” with its offices.
Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, with Russian troops bombing and ground raids in various parts of the country, including near the capital Kiev.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the attacks have already caused dozens of deaths.
Originally from Donetsk (in the Donbass region, epicenter of the conflict), Shakhtar were Ukrainian champions 13 times in the last 20 years.
In 2014, he moved to Kiev, when fighting broke out between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east.
That same year, the Donbass Arena, its modern stadium that hosted European Championship matches in 2012, was bombed.
Source: Eluniverso
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