"Air raid alert every day": former Russian national team player complains about "difficult time" in Belgorod

Former Russian national team goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov complained that residents of Belgorod and other Russian border towns are "going through a difficult time." The 2014 FIFA World Cup participant, who is a native of Shebekino, noted that air raid warnings are sounded in his native village every day.

Ryzhikov said this in a conversation with a Sports24 correspondent. The two-time Russian champion with Rubin Kazan, forgetting about his country's military aggression against Ukraine, added that Belgorod residents "sit in cafes and restaurants" despite the air raids.

"I was in Belgorod in the summer. But I know it's hard in Shebekino. There is an air raid every day. It comes and goes - now not to Shebekino, but to the suburbs, Tavolzhanka. We talk to my mom every day. But people are walking in parks, sitting in cafes and restaurants - life goes on. It's good to read the news from a thousand kilometers away. Being there is a completely different experience. You sympathize with people, they are going through a difficult time," Ryzhykov said.

As a reminder, on February 15, Russia said that Belgorod had allegedly come under "massive shelling." As a result, a shopping center was damaged, there were deaths and at least ten people were injured. The Russians immediately blamed Ukraine for the incident. However, the facts indicate that a Russian air defense missile hit the shopping center. In particular, residents of the Russian Federation themselves wrote about this online.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, former Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov demands that the president of the European Football Union (UEFA), Aleksander Čeferin, initiate the return of not only youth teams to international tournaments.

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