Brazilian footballers stranded in war-hit Ukraine have appealed to their government for an immediate evacuation, saying “the situation is one of despair.”
A video clip showed players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv, with their families, gathered in a hotel in the Ukrainian capital.
It came as Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his military forces to invade Ukraine on multiple fronts, with missiles and bombs raining from the sky, tanks moving across the border and ‘hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops reported dead.
Journalist Arthur Quezada posted a video on Twitter showing several Brazilian players assembled to make an appeal to the authorities in their home country to get them out of Ukraine.
Their partners and young children were also visible in the video.
The Shakhtar striker Junior Moraes, 34, sent a message saying: “The situation is one of despair. I ask you to disclose this video so that it reaches the [Brazilian] government.”
“Borders are closed, banks [are shut], there is no fuel, there will be a shortage of food, and there is no money.
“We are gathered waiting for a plane to leave Ukraine.”
Moraes posted a message on Instagram that read: “All friends and family, the situation is serious and we are stuck in Kiev waiting for a solution to get out. We are inside a hotel. Pray for us.”
Moraes was born in Brazil but is a Ukraine international. There are 12 Brazilian players in the Shakhtar squad, while the forward Vitinho plays for Dynamo Kyiv.
The Romanian coach of Dynamo Kyiv, Mircea Lucescu, said he would not be leaving the country.
He told Fanatik: “I hope that this war started by idiots stops as soon as possible. All sporting activities here in Ukraine have been suspended, but I will not leave Kyiv. I am not a coward.”