Ukraine conflict: Ukraine and Man City's Oleksandr Zinchenko on Russian invasion

Oleksandr Zinchenko has thanked the world for standing with Ukraine in an emotional interview with BBC Sport about the Russian invasion of his homeland.

The 25-year-old Manchester City left-back was named captain for the midweek FA Cup win over Peterborough and carried out the Ukraine flag before the match, having sat out the previous two league games.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine a little over a week ago, about a million Ukrainians have fled to safety while many others have stayed to fight.

The international community has almost universally backed Ukraine, in many cases sending weapons or imposing sanctions on Russia or Russians.

Zinchenko, who has family and friends in Ukraine, spoke to Gary Lineker about «his mission» to tell the world what is happening in Ukraine. You can watch the full interview on Football Focus from 12:00 GMT on Saturday on BBC One.

Here are some of the topics they discussed:

«At midnight UK time, my wife woke me up and she was crying,» Zinchenko says of how he discovered the invasion had started.

«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. You know, this feeling like you feel so bad inside. But this is even much more worse."

Nine days into the war and he says the emotion keeps hitting him.

«I'm just crying. So already a week, I'm not counting, but even I can drive the car from the training ground, or it doesn't matter where, I can just cry from nothing,» he said.

«It's everything in my head. Imagine the place where you was born, where you was growing up. And there is just empty ground.»

Many Ukrainians — including Zinchenko's friends — have stayed to fight Russia, with some who live