Arsenal footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko says he would leave the UK to fight in Ukraine if he was called up.
The 27-year-old told BBC Newsnight he has donated about £1m to help people in his home country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
He said Ukraine has become a “shield” for Europe and called for more support.
On Wednesday, the country’s president signed into law a bill lowering the military mobilisation age from 27 to 25.
This would allow the country to call up more people to replenish its reserves and comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky said in December that the country would need 500,000 more soldiers to be mobilised.
BBC Newsnight asked the footballer whether he would answer a call-up to fight, if he saw more value in that than staying to play football in the Premier League.
“I think it’s a clear answer. I would go [to fight]”, he said.
He added that he had former school friends fighting on the frontline.
“It’s tough to understand that just recently we’ve been in the same school, we were playing in the playground or on the football pitch, and now they have to defend our country,” he said.
“And, honestly, [it’s] so hard to accept this, but it is what it is. We cannot give up.”
Mr Zinchenko said the situation in the country is “super tough” but he and his family were “proud of our president”.
“I know maybe some people might think that it’s much easier … for me being here [in London] rather than being there [in Ukraine]. I really hope that this war will end soon,” he said.
