AFP, Moscow :
Former Russian international footballer Igor Denisov has said he fears for his life after criticising his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I don’t know, maybe for these words they will put me in prison or kill me, but I tell you the facts,” the 38-year-old said in an interview broadcast on YouTube.
“For me, it was not even a shock but a horror .. a disaster,” he continued of his initial reaction on hearing of the invasion.
One of the rare Russian sporting figures to speak out against the war, Denisov insisted he “loves (his) country” and does not intend to leave Russia.
“I want everything to be good and peaceful here,” continued the former Zenit Saint Petersburg midfielder who revealed he wrote to President Vladimir Putin asking him to stop the military operation.
