Former Tottenham forward Serhiy Rebrov, currently the head coach of Al Ain in United Arab Emirates, has spoken out about the Russian invasion of his home nation of Ukraine.
In an interview with GOAL, Rebrov said he is ready to return to his country and fight when his work in UAE is done.
Alongside other current and former Ukraine internationals such as Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko and Atalanta's Ruslan Malinovskyi, he also is setting up a fund to send financial support to Ukraine's military efforts.
What has been said?
"Today we are fighting for the whole of Europe, not just for Ukraine," Rebrov told GOAL. "It could have been any other country instead of Ukraine. And we don't know who is next.
"We’re a strong and proud people and today we are showing it. But the problem is that Russia is now attacking indiscriminately. They kill civilians, children. That's the biggest issue. This cruelty. They said they were evacuating civilians, but they didn't do it properly. And now they are trying to destroy all our infrastructure.
"They didn't come to fight only our military, they are killing everybody. And this injustice transcends us Ukrainians even more and makes us unite."
Rebrov went on to take aim at Russian people for not doing more to oppose President Vladimir Putin - although they face potentially severe repercussions for doing so.
And he said he hopes other European countries continue to step up support of Ukraine.
"Everybody is helping Ukraine at the moment," he said. "And there are different ways to do it. You see volunteers all the time bringing food, helping our army and people. And it's not easy when you see all the bombs falling everywhere. These people are extremely brave in braving all these risks. I think that today everyone is trying to help Ukraine.
"Of course they can do more. The most important thing is to close the airspace. Everyone in Ukraine is talking about it and praying for it. This is the protection we are asking for. Because, as I said, they are sending bombs and missiles on civilians. They are bombing everything. And I think Europe and NATO can still help us with that. But yes, we are delighted with the position that all the countries have taken, with the humanitarian aid that they have provided and with the volunteers who are mobilising. But we need to do a bit more."
Rebrov's wife and children are with him in UAE, however, his parents are in Ukraine.
"We can never know if they are safe or not," he said with concern.
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