Fedor Smolov became the first Russian international footballer to express his opposition to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia posting on Instagram: “No to war.”

The 32-year-old Dynamo Moscow striker’s post is against a dark backdrop and followed by a Ukrainian flag and a broken heart icon.

The 45-times capped Smolov — who has been called up to the last three national squads — expressed his opposition hours after the launching of the Russian invasion was announced by President Vladimir Putin.

Continue reading this article on Sports Desk.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.