Ukraine footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko claims Instagram have deleted his story post saying he hopes Vladimir Putin suffers the ‘most painful suffering death’ after the Russia president launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine.
Yet, that story post has since been taken down and Zinchenko claims that Instagram have deleted his post in seemingly a move of censorship of the Ukraine international. Sportsmail has contacted Instagram for comment.
The 25-year-old said on Tuesday that he ‘can’t stand back’ whilst ‘the whole civilized world is concerned about my country’ and has again taken to social media on Thursday morning.
Russia have launched all-out war on Ukraine with missiles and bombs, tanks rolling across the border from Belarus, troops parachuted down on eastern regions and explosions seen across the country after Putin personally gave the order for his forces to attack.
‘Hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops were killed in early clashes, Kiev said, as the fight came to them on all fronts at a moment’s notice. Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets took out targets from east to west – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts.
It came after Putin gave an extraordinary early-morning address to the Russian nation – delivered during a UN meeting aimed at avoiding war – in which he declared a ‘special military operation’ to ‘de-militarise’ and ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine in what amounted to a outright declaration of war.
The Russian strongman also issued a chilling warning to any country thinking of coming to Ukraine’s aid, vowing “consequences greater than any you have faced in history.”
UEFA sided with Russia and ordered Ukraine to remove a ‘political’ slogan from their Euro 2020 football shirts.
European football’s governing body said the message “Glory to our Heroes,” a rallying cry during the 2014 anti-Russia protests in Ukraine that is written inside the jersey, was “clearly political in nature.”
Both sides immediately seized on the ruling, with the Ukrainian football association claiming it was ‘in talks’ to reverse the decision, while Russia hailed it as a victory following its furious complaint after the jersey was unveiled on Sunday. – MailOnline