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Soccer

Russia-born striker sends Putin anti-war message

Oleksiy Khoblenko, who holds Ukrainian nationality but was born in Yekaterinburg, has been applauded for his message to the Russian leader.

Oleksiy Khoblenko, who was born in Russia, had a message for Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

Oleksiy Khoblenko, a striker at Estonian side FCI Levadia, has been widely applauded for sending an anti-war message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin after finding the net for the first time for his new club in a game against Narva. Khoblenko, who was born in Yekaterinburg in the Russian Federation but holds Ukrainian nationality, was forced to leave his former side Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After scoring, he whipped of his shirt to reveal a message that read: “Glory to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Putin is a fascist!”

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Khoblenko applauded for anti-war message

Khoblenko’s stance was widely applauded in Estonia and Ukraine, particularly as he was born in Russia. He moved to FCI Levadia on loan after the invasion and has represented Ukraine at under-21 level.

The striker is the latest Russian or Russia-born athlete to publicly speak out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, which the Kremlin has always insisted on describing as a “special military operation.” However, few if any have done so quite as directly as Khoblenko, whose name was circulating widely on the Internet on Friday morning for his bold response to the ongoing conflict in his adopted country.