Brazil-born footballer ‘could be conscripted by Ukraine’
Brazil-born striker Junior Moraes could be conscripted by the Ukrainian army under an order by the country's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that men cannot leave the country following Russia's invasion – little more than a day after the Shakhtar Donetsk star pleaded to the Brazilian government to help him flee his adopted homeland.
Two-time Ukrainian Premier League top scorer Moraes joined a group of Brazilian players based in Ukraine who asked for assistance to leave the country after Zelenskyy declared martial law on Thursday.
In a post shared with his Instagram following of more than 235,000, Moraes was quoted as saying: “The situation is one of despair. I ask you to disclose this video so that it reaches the government.
“Borders are closed, banks, there is no fuel – there will be a shortage of food, there is no money. We are gathered waiting for a plan to leave Ukraine.”
Zelensky has since banned male citizens aged between 18 and 60 from leaving Ukraine as part of a full military mobilization lasting for 90 days.
As a naturalized Ukrainian, Moraes could be required to report to a military institution for duty.
The 34-year-old has spent the majority of his career in Ukraine, including prolific spells with the club he joined in 2012, Metalurh Donetsk, and Dynamo Kiev between 2015 and 2018.
Moraes has won the Ukrainian Premier League twice since joining Shakhtar in 2018, earning citizenship within two weeks of filing his application in March 2019.
He made his Ukraine debut against Portugal that year and has earned ten caps since, scoring his first international goal against Finland in a World Cup qualifier in 2021.
Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian players ask for help to leave Ukraine with their families pic.twitter.com/svSyM8i8cQ
— Marcus Alves (@_marcus_alves) February 24, 2022
The third Brazil-born player to be capped for Ukraine, Moraes is out of contract at the end of the season and is thought to remain in a hotel with the 12 Brazilian players who play for Kiev-based Shakhtar.
Sharing a photo of his children praying at a table in Brazil, where they are based with his wife, Moraes wrote: "My reason to continue. Please still pray for us."
The Ukrainian Premier League was suspended on Thursday for at least a month.
