A Ukrainian soccer expert says Russia-based Ukrainian players who show support for their homeland aren't in danger despite Putin's invasion

• Ukrainian soccer players playing in Russia are sharing their support for their country.
• Despite Russia's history of condemning pro-Ukrainian activists, however, they are safe, a Ukrainian soccer expert told Insider.

Ukrainian soccer players in Russia who are showing support for their country following Thursday's invasion are unlikely to face any repercussions, a Ukrainian soccer expert has told Insider.

A number of Ukrainian players playing in the Russian Premier League have spoken out on social media after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military assault in Ukraine.

Attacks have so far been reported on Ukrainian military targets in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odessa.

Ukrainian international Yaroslav Rakitskiy, who plays as a defender for Zenit Saint Petersburg, said on Instagram: "I'm Ukrainian! #PeaceinUkraine #StopWar."

Ivan Ordets, another Ukraine international who plays in Russia for Dynamo Moscow, posted a picture of the Ukrainian flag on Instagram, saying: "With all my heart and soul with Ukraine. No War in Ukraine!"

Midfielder Dmytro Ivanisenya, who plays for Krylia Sovetov, shared a Ukraine flag alongside three praying emojis to his Instagram story.

Neither Zenit, Dynamo Moscow, or Krylia Sovetov have commented on the situation.

Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine first erupted in 2014, a number of pro-Ukrainian activists have been jailed by Russian authorities.

According to the BBC, in August 2015, a court in Russia jailed Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov for 20 years for plotting terrorist acts in Crimea after he was arrested during a protest against Russia's annexation of the peninsula in 2014.

Another Crimea activist, Alexander Kolchenko, who was tried alongside Sentsov, was sentenced to 10 years.

Russia denied the pair, who both denied the charges against them, were being kept as political prisoners before releasing them as part of a prisoner swap with Ukraine in September 2019.

Ukrainians have also been killed by Russian militia, according to the Atlantic Council, including Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Rybak and teenage footballer Stepan Chubenko, who was murdered by Kremlin forces in 2014 for being "pro-Ukrainian."

Despite Russia's history of condemning pro-Ukrainians, however, Andrew Todos of Zorya Londonsk, a UK-based website focused on Ukrainian soccer, says players in Russia voicing support for Ukraine are currently safe so long as they are in Russia.

"I don't think there'll be a risk for them in Russia itself," Todos told Insider. "They'll be safe within their respective clubs.

"The fact they went to play in Russia is a signal of their political leanings too, [but] the situation is fluid and maybe they may stop being apolitical."

Todos noted that the support that has come for Ukraine so far from Ukrainian players in Russia has not directly condemned Russia's actions. Messages have instead largely been calls for peace, which is likely deliberate.

"In the way they have done it, where they just say: 'I don't want war,' without really even mentioning Russia specifically, [I] think there's no risk."

World soccer is already distancing itself from Russia.

UEFA will no longer host this season's Champions League final in St. Petersburg as scheduled, a source told the Associated Press, while Bundesliga side Schalke 04 has already said it will stop displaying the logo of Russian energy giant Gazprom on its shirts.

"Following recent developments, FC Schalke 04 have decided to remove the logo of main sponsor GAZPROM from the club's shirts," a statement read. "It will be replaced by lettering reading 'Schalke 04' instead."

According to Kieren Maguire, a soccer finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool, Manchester United is also set to terminate its sponsorship deal with Russian airline Aeroflot.