Ukraine's most famous soccer player delivered an impassioned speech about his war-torn country at the sport's biggest awards ceremony

• Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko delivered an impassioned speech at Monday's 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
• The former AC Milan striker urged people not to forget about the ongoing Russian invasion of his country.

Ukraine's most famous soccer player, Andriy Shevchenko, gave an impassioned speech about his country at the 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday, in which he urged people not to forget that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, is still ongoing.

"It has been a very difficult moment since the war started," said the former AC Milan, Chelsea FC, and Dynamo Kyiv striker, who is Ukraine's all-time goal-scoring leader.

"I am so proud with how my country defend and fight for their freedom.

"I've been very involved in a lot of humanitarian and medical aid projects together with the United 24 fundraising platform, created by Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"It's very important to remember the war is still going, but most important to stay on the side of Ukraine and help. Thank you so much."

After his speech, Shevchenko presented the award for the Ballon d'Or Feminin, which was won by FC Barcelona's Alexia Putellas for the second year running.

Shevchenko isn't the only Ukrainian soccer player who has publicly addressed the ongoing invasion of Ukraine in recent times.

Last month, the current captain of Ukraine's men's national soccer team, Andriy Yarmolenko, called Russia a "terrorist country" and called for it to be "totally isolated" from the rest of the sporting world after UEFA confirmed the country would be excluded from qualification for the 2024 European Championships.

"Every day they kill Ukrainians, our children. Therefore, there can be no question of any sport," he told reporters.

"Everyone in the national team of Ukraine wants only one thing – to punish this country as hard as possible."