Ukrainian football player Tymoshchuk suspected of helping to raise money for the Russian military

The former captain of the Ukrainian national football team was declared a suspect after he helped raise money for the Russian military occupation units.

This was reported by the press service of the Kyiv prosecutorʼs office.

The agency does not name the suspect, but from the details of the case it is clear that we are talking about Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

The former captain of the Ukrainian national football team has been working as an assistant head coach of the St. Petersburg football club Zenit since 2017. In September 2024, his club participated in a match whose participants helped raise money to support the Russian military units, which are staffed with football hooligans and are fighting in Ukraine.

Thus, after the game, autographed T-shirts of the match participants were sold at auction. A former Ukrainian football player also decided to support the Russian army, whose autographed T-shirt was sold for 700 thousand rubles (360 thousand UAH).

The money from the sale of the lots was directed to help the 106th reconnaissance battalion of the Russian Armed Forces, known as reconnaissance detachment 106 "Moscow", and later renamed "Svetloyar".

Tymoshchuk was charged with Part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — aiding and abetting an aggressor state. The maximum penalty is 12 years in prison.

• Tymoshchuk was born in Lutsk and is a member of the local Volyn team. He spent the majority of his career with Shakhtar Donetsk. After that, Tymoshchuk spent four years with Zenit St. Petersburg and Bayern Munich.
• The player was repeatedly criticized for continuing to work in Russia after the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014. After February 24, 2022, Tymoshchuk refused to comment on the Russian invasion. And in the spring, the Ukrainian Football Association stripped Tymoshchuk of his record-holder status (he played 144 matches for the Ukrainian national team) and banned him from engaging in any football-related activities in Ukraine. In December 2022, the Verkhovna Rada approved sanctions against him.

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