Russia's national football team captain Artem Dzyuba has finally broken his silence about his country's war on Ukraine after his silence was criticized by Ukrainian players.

In a long post on his official Instagram account, the 33-year-old Zenit St Petersburg striker described the war as "a frightening thing".

But Dzyuba did not condemn the war, spoke of his pride in his Russian citizenship, and responded to Ukrainian footballers who sit in their "England mansions and say ridiculous things".

Everton defender and Ukraine national team Vitaly Mykolenko had criticized Dzyuba and his colleagues in the Russian national team for not publicly condemning the war, adding, "You and your children will spend your lives in a dungeon."

“I did not want to talk about the topic of events in Ukraine, not because I am afraid, but because I am not an expert in politics, I did not enter it and do not intend to, but like everyone else I have my own opinion, the war is scary, but I am shocked by the aggression,” Dzyuba said in the post. I am against discrimination on the basis of nationality, I am not ashamed that I am Russian, I am proud of my nationality, and I do not understand why athletes should suffer now?”

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A post shared by Artem Dzyuba (@artem.dzyuba)

"I am against double standards, why does everyone always demand the separation of sports from politics, but at the first opportunity when it comes to Russia this principle is completely forgotten? How much anger is poured out now on all members of the Russian people regardless of their positions and professions, thousands of people write insults." And threats, it's strange to hear all this from people to whom Russia has given so much."

He concluded, "The war will end, but human relations will remain, and it will be impossible to take back what I said, remember this .. to some colleagues who sit in palaces in England and say bad things (he means Ukrainian Andrey Yarmolenko, West Ham player), this does not offend us, we understand. Everything, peace and goodness to all."

Hours later, Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Manchester City defender, who launched an attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin and wished to "die in a painful way", replied, "There are those who continue to mislead the truth. I want to send important messages to the public, citizens and players of the aggressor country."

"There was a period in my football career when I played for the (Russian) club Ufa. It was a difficult year and a half, but it was rewarding. I will always be grateful to this club for everything it did for me, but I want to confirm that I became a footballer in Ukraine."

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A post shared by Alex Zinchenko (@zinchenko_96)

He added, "In my native country, I acquired my football skills and underwent training in academies. To all those who say that Russian football brought me up, I want to say again: I am a student at the Donetsk City Academy of Ukraine, there are those who raise a slogan or an argument (sports outside politics)," Sports should not be part of campaigns, partisan races, slogan-mongering, or a public relations platform, but sports, like all areas of life, cannot stand idly by on issues of war, aggression and death.

He continued, "Why do Ukrainian footballers demand football sanctions against the aggressor state? Do we really want to deprive you of the opportunity to do what you love? No, we are using all means to stop the aggressor's ambitions to occupy, evil must be punished on every platform available to society, we will knock on your doors by imposing More aggressive sanctions than you do when you cross our state's border with guns."

“Stopping the occupation is the main and only goal of all our steps,” he concluded. “The troubles of Russian footballers are several million. People love, support and listen to them. Therefore, silence is a crime. I know that in your country you are being punished for opposing war. You cannot be afraid of small penalties when Human life is at stake.

It is noteworthy that the International Football Associations "FIFA" (FIFA) and the European Football Association "UEFA" (UEFA) last Monday excluded Russia from their competitions - whether at the level of teams or clubs - until further notice.

Under this move, the Russian men's team will be excluded from participating in the play-off qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as well as the women's team will be excluded from participating in Euro 2022.

This decision results in the exclusion of Spartak Moscow from the European League, as it was scheduled to meet Leipzig in the final price, and this means that the German team qualified directly to the quarter-finals of the continental competition.