Russian footballer stands with Ukraine after Russia's military intervention

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - A Russian football player opposed his country's military intervention in Ukraine on Thursday.

Dynamo Moscow forward Fedor Smolov wrote "No to war" on Instagram, in standing with Ukraine.

Smolov also put a broken heart emoji and a Ukrainian flag as well as a black square to express his grief, hours after Russia launched an attack.

Smolov played for the Russian national team 45 times and has scored 16 goals.

The 32-year-old played in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Separately, he helped Lokomotiv Moscow win two Russian Cups and a Russian Super Cup.

Smolov joined Dynamo Moscow in January with a contract that runs until 2024.

- Donbas crisis and Russia's military intervention

Ukraine's February 2014 "Maidan revolution" caused President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and a pro-Western government to come to power.

Russia then illegally annexed Crimea, and separatists in eastern Ukraine declared their so-called administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk, both home to large ethnic Russian populations.

Deadly clashes broke out between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army. The 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, signed in Moscow with the intervention of Western powers, sought to stop the conflict but cease-fire violations continued, resulting in 14,000 deaths as of February.

Late last year, Russia made headlines by deploying tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine, with the US accusing it of gearing up for an invasion -- claims Moscow denied.

Amid threats of Western sanctions, Moscow recognized the 2 separatist administrations in Donbas as 'independent' on Monday, Feb. 21 and the military intervention started Feb. 24 into Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Kyiv and to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. He called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.