Brazilian footballers stranded in war-hit Ukraine have appealed to their government for an immediate evacuation after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a clip, players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv, with their families, gathered in a hotel in the Ukrainian capital to make an appeal to the authorities in their home country to get them out of Ukraine.

Their partners and young children were also visible in the video.  

The Shakhtar striker Junior Moraes, 34, sent a message saying: ‘The situation is one of despair. I ask you to disclose this video so that it reaches the [Brazilian] government.

‘We are gathered waiting for a plan to leave Ukraine.’

 

 

 

 

 

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Moraes also posted a message on Instagram that read: ‘All friends and family, the situation is serious and we are stuck in Kiev waiting for a solution to get out. We are inside a hotel. Pray for us.’ 

It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military forces to invade Ukraine on multiple fronts with missiles and bombs raining from the sky, tanks moving across the border and ‘hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops reported dead.