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Football London
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Tom Coley

Andriy Shevchenko praises 'generous' Oleksandr Zinchenko for Ukrainian support at Arsenal

Oleksandr Zinchenko has been applauded for his continued work supporting the Ukrainian people in their fight against the horrific Russian invasion.

The former-Manchester City fullback has been doing his bit not only to raise awareness of the constant atrocity that is going on in his home country but also to generate funds to support the Ukrainian people in their attempts to survive through the invasion.

Zinchenko signed for Arsenal for £30m this summer and has received glowing praise for his charity work from a former Ballon d'Or winner.

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Ukrainian national team manager Andriy Shevchenko has lauded his player for the work being done in support of the war, saying, "Oleks has stood up, he has spoken out and expressed his very hard views against the war. He loves Ukraine and the people, and we have done a lot of activities together.

"We have been involved in fundrasing activities. Oleks is very generous, and he gives a lot to the Ukrainian people.

"Nearly three million children from Ukraine have been forced to flee their homes in the past five months as a result of the conflict."

The 25-year-old has been extremely public with his condemnation of the conflict in Europe, previously saying, "Trying to follow everything is basically my life now. The first thing I do every day is reach for my phone, and then it's in my hand constantly. It's been more than seven weeks now, and you can see some people starting to forget, starting to adapt to the brutality in my country. No, no, no.

"People are starving, dying, bodies being discovered, so how can anyone relax? You have to talk even more. I hate the people who invaded our land more and more and more every day. I won't stop talking about it, because the whole world has to know the truth."

Shevchenko and Zinchenko have been doing the most they can from their position within sport, and the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker has played another key role by visiting Poland and joining the Save the Children school campaign that aims to support Ukrainian children displaced during the war.

The schools are currently working with TeamUp to further support impacted kids. Shevchenko, an ambassador for Laureus, is keen to keep pushing the importance of the public's actions: "The physical impact of the war is clear to see, but we cannot forget about the psychological impact on these young people. It is not enough to take a child out of the war. We need to take the war out of children.

"Sport has an incredible power to break down barriers and create hope in times of despair.

"I'm proud and thankful that Laureus is supporting initiatives like this, working in partnership with War Child and Save the Children to help these children and their families. We must continue to work together for the future of these children."

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