From BZ editors
The bloody war of aggression by Kremlin despot Vladimir Putin (69) has been raging in Ukraine for almost four months. However, he does not have all Russian citizens on his side.
There are people who openly oppose the atrocities committed by their own troops in Ukraine. One of them is Igor Denisov (38). A sports star in Russia, from 2008 to 2016 national football player. He wore his home country’s jersey 54 times and was also captain of the team.
Denisov calls the war waged by Russia a “disaster”. Denisov now told sports journalist and blogger Nobel Arustamyan that he recorded a video message for his compatriots. However, the Russian state media would not want to broadcast them.
Heavy fighting is raging around the strategically important city of Sievjerodonetsk Photo: Unknown/GROUPPDF/APA/dpa
“I don’t know, maybe I’ll be imprisoned or killed for saying those words, but I’ll tell it like it is. My perception of everything has changed drastically. I have not slept. I probably slept three hours for four days. I was just shocked,” said the footballer about his impressions since the beginning of the war.
Even then he wanted to upload a statement against the war on YouTube. However, friends advised him against it.
Denisov: “Nobody can explain it to me. Maybe because I’m not well read, maybe because I’m not well versed in history, but I’m against it. I don’t like it when people die. I can no longer remain silent about this.”
In the embassy, he addressed the Kremlin tyrant Putin directly, Denisov said. And offered to kneel before him as a “proud man”. However, nobody in his homeland wanted to hear that.
In the meantime, the Russian state apparatus has tightened the screws and passed tougher laws against those who report negatively about the war in the neighboring country.
But Denisov is not deterred by this. “Of course I’m a simple person. I’m scared even now. But I can’t help but speak up.” And about the possible dangers he exposes himself to with such statements, he says courageously: “I’m not hiding, I’m not going anywhere – I don’t need it.”
One can only hope that these courageous words will be heard in Russia!
