West Ham star Andriy Yarmolenko joins Ukrainian footballers in plea for support amid Russian invasion

West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko has joined his Ukraine teammates in a plea for football to continue its support for their home country following the invasion of Russia.

The Ukrainian internationals have issued a plea to all involved in football to “to show and tell the truth about war in Ukraine” and fight back against Russian propaganda.

Vladimir Putin instructed his forces to invade their neighbour in the early hours of Thursday last week, incorrectly claiming that the Russian military were carrying out a “special military operation” with the objective demilitarisation and “denazification” of Ukraine.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, responded by asking how a people who lost eight million of its citizens fighting Nazis could support Nazism. “How could I be a Nazi?” said Mr Zelensky, who is himself Jewish.

The Ukrainian squad have called on football to use its power and global reach to fight such claims following a show of support over fixtures at the weekend, where there were tributes from West Ham for Yarmolenko and from Everton and Manchester City to Vitaliy Mykolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Putin orders deterrent forces onto high alert

Liz Truss says she “absolutely” supports British citizens going to fight in Ukraine

Destroyed Russian Military Convoy, Kharkiv Outskirts.

Sex predator admits murder of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa

Watch: Huge fireball explodes after missile hits gas pipeline in Ukraine

Kyiv residential tower hit by missile as fighting rages

Passengers queue at Heathrow as BA cancels all short-haul flights from Heathrow after IT outage

Protests take place across the UK and Ireland over Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine live: Fighting reaches Kyiv as Zelensky vows to fight

Biden: