Argentine Journalists Managed To Get Out Of Trouble In Ukraine Thanks To Lionel Messi And Diego Maradona

The journalists travelled to Ukraine to cover the invasion and were stopped at a security checkpoint, according to Argentine TV channel Telefe. They were then taken for questioning.

It was at that point Argentina football legends Messi and Maradona played a part in their release, in the most unexpected way.

Chilean journalist Daniel Matamala recounted the events on his Instagram story and explained: "Today, at one of the road checkpoints, the police seized our documents, cameras, telephones, and escorted us to the police station.

"The first interrogations were tense: it is a country at war and spies or saboteurs are suspected.

"Until one of the policemen saw the passports of my Argentine colleagues and among a lot of words in Ukrainian, he said two that we understood 'Messi' and 'Maradona.'

"That's where everything changed. Our great cameraman Juan Zamudio showed that he has a tattoo of Diego Maradona in the calf."

Zamudio showed the tattoo and it managed to diffuse the situation.

Argentine journalist Guillermo Panizza then had his phone returned to him after authorities found a photo of him posing with a 20-year-old Messi back in 2007.

Panizza took a picture with Messi prior to Argentina's Copa America campaign, after initially looking for defender Roberto Ayala.

He thanked the Paris Saint-Germain star with a message of: "It's so big that he helped us get out of a police station in Ukraine.

"Thank you for this photo and for being Argentine."

The deputy prime minister of Ukraine announced a ceasefire on humanitarian corridors between 9am and 9pm local time on Wednesday morning.

Vladimir Putin's troops have been warned against shooting in the designated areas.