West Ham’s Ukrainian winger Andriy Yarmolenko has been given time off as he struggles to deal with the shock of Russia’s invasion of his country, manager David Moyes said on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday that has claimed dozens of lives and displaced at least 100,000 people.
Yarmolenko was born in Russia to Ukrainian parents, who moved back to their homeland when he was a young child.
The 32-year-old Ukraine international ended a lengthy Twitter hiatus to plead for peace this week when he wrote: “Pray for Ukraine. No War.”
The former Dynamo Kiev player will not feature in West Ham’s Premier League match against Wolves on Sunday after Moyes decided to give him a break.