Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi has called out his nation’s most-capped star Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and insists he is no longer a legend after remaining silent during the ongoing war with Russia.
Tymoshchuk, who won 144 caps for Ukraine, is the assistant coach at Zenit St Petersburg and has not yet said anything about the conflict more than a week after Vladimir Putin sent in his troops.
The former Shakhtar Donetsk star is even still working in Russia while fellow Ukrainian internationals have spoken out, including defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy, who asked to be released by Zenit following Russia’s invasion on Ukraine last Thursday.
Ukrainian former Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin, who was working as an assistant for Dynamo Moscow, decided to flee Moscow and leave his role after stating he ‘can no longer work in the country that is bombing my homeland’.
This has caused a rift, as Atalanta midfielder Malinovskyi feels strongly about the situation and was keen to question Tymoshchuk’s lack of action.
‘I don’t know about Tymoshchuk, you need to ask him. Hard to comment but it’s weird (why he hasn’t) – I think it’s not right,’ Malinovskyi tweeted.
‘It’s 100% the case that he’s no longer (or ever will be) a legend of Ukraine football.
‘His previous achievements have been forgotten.’
Ruslan Malinovskyi (left) insists Ukraine’s most-capped star Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (right) is no longer a legend as he remains silent about the war
Former footballer Yevgeny Levchenko has also turned on his fellow countryman, much like Malinovskyi.
‘Tolya, how come? You’re from Ukraine. How can you keep quiet and keep working there?
‘We played together for the same team, wore this T-shirt with pride, sang the anthem, won and lost. Are you just silent now? Tolya, how will you live with this?’
Tymoshchuk (left) continues to work as an assistant at Zenit St Petersburg in Russia
The former Bayern Munich midfielder was missing from the bench on Monday, as they beat Rubin Kazan 3-2, but Zenit boss Sergei Semak insisted that was purely down to ill health.
‘Tolya [Tymoshchuk] drove to the base during the day, but then he got a sore throat and we decided to save him,’ he said.
UEFA have announced that no Russian sides will be allowed to compete in European competitions until further notice on Monday.
Zenit had been competing in the Champions League and Europa League this season.
After finishing third in a Champions League group that included Chelsea and Juventus, Semak’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by Real Betis last week.
UEFA announced that no Russian sides will be allowed to compete in European competitions, which saw Spartak Moscow kicked out of the Europa League
The only Russian side left in competitions were Spartak Moscow, who have now been kicked out of the Europa League.
Russia will now no longer be able to participate in the World Cup play-offs, due to take place later this month.
Russian troops today entered the outskirts of another Ukrainian city as Vladimir Putin steps up his assault on the country, having last night vowed to continue until ‘total victory’ is achieved.
Mykolaiv, in the south of Ukraine, came under attack in the early hours as Russian forces moved within striking distance of the city centre.
It is located just a few miles from Kherson, which fell to Putin’s men earlier in the week, and is a key point on the road to Odessa – Ukraine’s third-largest city and main port – that is now under threat.
Kharkiv has been under days of bombardment, with local officials saying there is no area of the city that has not been hit
An office block in the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is left in ruins after being hit by a Russian strike
Russia is continuing to advance in southern Ukraine, with Mariupol under bombardment and Odessa and Mykolaiv under threat. Chernihiv, in the north, and Kharkiv, in the east, continue to come under heavy bombardment. The capital Kyiv is also under threat, though Ukrainian counter-attacks took out some Russian forces early on Friday
Putin’s men also continued their bombardment of Mariupol, hundreds of miles along the Black Sea coast to the east, which remains in Ukrainian hands but is surrounded and being shelled into submission.
If Russia can take it, then large parts of Ukraine’s army dug into trenches in the Donbass are in danger of getting cut off.
Russia has also renewed its bombardment of cities in the north, with Kyiv, Chernihiv and all coming under fresh attack early Friday – as authorities is Chernihiv said civilian areas of the city were hit with banned cluster munitions on Thursday, killing 47 people.
