• Man City’s Zinchenko, tweets “Putin, I hope you suffer the most painful death.”

The Manchester City footballer and Ukraine captain, Zinchenko, has exploded on twitter against Putin, writing: “I hope you suffer the most painful death”

The footballer later deleted the message, but he made his position clear in a later tweet: “My country belongs to the Ukrainians and no one can ever appropriate it”

He added “I can’t stay on the sidelines and not talk about this. The whole civilised world is worried about the situation in my country.”

Many other Ukrainian athletes also took to their social network pages after Russia’s invasion and bombing of their country. At the centre of their criticism, of course, is a Vladimir Putin whom, footballer Zozulia refers to as “a reincarnation of Hitler”.

Also taking to twitter was Ukraine’s most famous son, an absolute icon in his country, Andriy Shevchenko. The former player and current national manager, is one of the most recognized celebrities around the world and in the same way that many compatriots have done, he has also condemned the Russian offensives.

“Ukraine is my homeland! I have always been proud of my people and my country! We have been through many difficult times and in the last 30 years we have formed ourselves as a nation! A nation of sincere, hard-working and country-loving citizens! freedom! This is our most important asset!”

“Today is a difficult time for all of us. But we must unite! In unity we will win! Glory to Ukraine,” he wrote.