Artem Dzyuba posts angry response to West Ham star Andriy Yarmolenko’s call out
Artem Dzyuba has directed an angry response to calls from West Ham star Andriy Yarmolenko to speak out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Hammers forward had posted a video on his Instagram page on Wednesday (2 March), tagging various Russian players, in which he denounced them for staying silent despite the violence unfolding in his home country.
In the video he said, via the Daily Mail: “I have a question for Russian players. Guys, why are you sitting like [expletive]heads, and not saying anything?
“In my country they’re killing people, killing wives, killing mothers, killing our children. But you saying nothing, you’ve given no comments.”
Apparently referring to the Russian captain’s 2020 leaked sex video he added: “I know some of you like to show your balls on camera but now the time’s come to show your balls in real life.”
In response, the 33-year-old Zenit St Petersburg striker posted on his own Instagram page saying, as quoted by the Daily Mail, he was “against any war” but without denouncing Russian leadership, and declared “I am a proud Russian”.
Signing off with a message apparently directed at Yarmolenko and compatriots Vitalii Mykolenko of Everton and Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko: “And to some colleagues who sit on their [expletive] in mansions in England and say nasty things: It cannot offend us, we understand everything! Peace and goodness to everybody!”
Heated
The Irons forward has said that many of the Russian players he knows have privately told him they are against the war so it is understandable that he wants them to say so publicly.
Dynamo Moscow striker Fedor Smolov reacted early, posting on social media last week a message saying “No war!!!” along with broken heart and Ukranian flag emojis (Mirror), and tennis star Andrey Rublev wrote “No war please” on the camera following his win in the Dubai Tennis Championship semi-final (Sky Sports).
Russia’s top-ranked female tennis star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has also spoken out at more length against the invasion (Express), yet the silence from many prominent Russian players within football has been notable.
In such a time of turmoil, with civilian deaths mounting in Ukraine, it is no surprise that players from the country are getting increasingly desperate.
And difficult though it may be for those based in Russia to speak out, it surely is necessary.
The effects of trauma arising from the horrors coming out of Europe are appearing in many different places, and the social media dispute between players is just one small example.
In other West Ham news, a potentially major development in a transfer case has come up.
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