Having a family stopped Ukraine football star Zinchenko returning to fight

Zinchenko says he has cried constantly since Russia invaded Ukraine and the Manchester City star told the BBC he would have returned like other sports stars have done to fight had it not been for having a family. The 25-year-old added his compatriots would not "give up" in resisting the invasion and criticised Russian footballers for failing to speak out against the war. Several past and present Ukrainian sporting luminaries have returned to Ukraine to take up arms, including world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and football manager Yuriy Vernydub.

"I'll be honest, if not for my daughter, my family, I would be there," he told the BBC. "I'm just born like that. I know the people from my country, the mentality of them, and all of them, they think exactly the same.

"I'm so proud to be Ukrainian, and I will be forever for the rest of my life. And when you're watching the people, how they fight for their lives. "I know the people, the mentality of my people from my country, they prefer to die, and they will die.

But they're not going to give (up)." Zinchenko and fellow Premier League star Andriy Yarmolenko have with other Ukrainian footballers done their bit to rally opposition in "the world football community" to Russia by releasing a video. Zinchenko -- who played for Russian side Ufa for a season before joining City in 2016 for a reported fee of £1.7 million ($2.2 million) -- says he is still reeling from what has taken place. "At midnight UK time (0000 GMT), my wife woke me up and she was crying," he said.

"I was in shock. She showed me the videos, the pictures, what's going on now in Ukraine. "Maybe the most closest feeling is when someone from your circle is dying.