Vladimir Putin calls up former Premier League star to fight for Russia against Ukraine
Former Premier League star Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has been called up by President Vladimir Putin to fight as part of the Russian army in the war against Ukraine.
It comes as Putin scrambled to recruit an additional 300,000 troops to his army, with staff from Russia’s football national team refusing to return home after their match in Kyrgyzstan.
Bilyaletdinov’s dad, Rinat confirmed to sports.ru, that his former Everton-playing star was one of the men called up to fight in the war.
He says the former Russian international received a summons from the military registration and enlistment office but claimed there was an inconsistency with the notice.
He said: “Diniyar really received a summons.
“It is difficult to talk about emotions, because he did not serve, although he did military service, but it was specific, with a sports bias. It was 19 years ago.
“That is, yes, he took the oath, but served in the sports line. The law still says – to call people up to 35 years old, and he is 37, so there is some kind of inconsistency here.
He was an integral part of the Russian squad that made it all the way to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
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