The former Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow player Roman Shirokov made insulting remarks about the Ukrainians. The 2008 European Championship bronze medalist reacted sharply to the words of Oleksandr Zinchenko who criticized the Russian players for their silent support of the war, for which he was ridiculed online.

Shirokov said this in an interview with RB Sport. The ex-player of the Russian national team called Ukraine a non-existent country and President Volodymyr Zelensky a clown. In addition, he expressed confidence that the Russian Federation "will emerge victorious from the SMO" and "must dictate its terms to international organizations".

"That's what Russian soccer players are Russian, because they support their country, not a 404 country that thinks they are celestials. They can say - guys, you guys there influence your clown, although it's hard to influence him - other people or drugs influence him. When Russia emerges victorious from the SMO, we have to dictate our terms to international organizations. And the only question is how quickly we will finish the SMO," Shirokov said.

Sports.ru readers called the ex-football player a typical representative of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's electorate.

"They're all just like that. Paper soldiers of the paper tsar", "Well, the fact that Shirokov is brainless has been known for quite a long time", "Standard. The country = the president's ass, in his opinion", "Why didn't he say anything about the poisoned geese? If you're going to beat him, you should tell him about everything at once", "Is Country 404 the one no one plays with?" - they write in the comments.

Shirokov had previously stated that the Russian military was "fighting for their country and for peace to come". He also spoke out against the departure of Russians to European championships. For this, fans called him "a burp of degrading Russia."

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