Oleksandr Zinchenko: Arsenal footballer says he will fight for Ukraine if he is called up

Premier League footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko has said that he would fight in Ukraine if he were to be called up by the country.

The Arsenal player, 27, told BBC Newsnight that he would leave the UK to fight in his home country if asked as the war with Russia continues. He said: "I think it's a clear answer. I would go.”

He added: "It's tough to understand that just recently we've been in the same school, we were playing in the playground or on the football pitch, and now they have to defend our country. And, honestly, [it's] so hard to accept this, but it is what it is. We cannot give up."

This week, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill which lowered the military mobilisation age to men aged 27-years-old to 25-years-old. It comes as Ukraine looks to replenish its military resources as the war with Russia continues to rumble on.

Zinchenko, who has played for his North London club since 2022 and previously had a spell at Manchester City, added that to date he has donated around £1 million to help those in his home country as war rages around them. He has also urged more support for Ukraine from the West, adding that his country is being used as a “shield” for Europe.

He said: "What is my duty now? How can I help as much as I can to my country, to my people, over there and all these things? I can't be more proud than I am right now to be Ukrainian. I have a dream that this war will end very, very soon, and we can rebuild our Ukraine like we really want [to]."