Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin, arguably the greatest Russian-born hockey player in NHL history, issued an anti-war statement publicly for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Please, no more war. It doesn't matter who is in the war -- Russia, Ukraine, different countries -- we have to live in peace," Ovechkin said after the Capitals' practice on Friday via ESPN.
Ovechkin, 36, has publicly supported Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout his NHL career, which included campaigning on his behalf in 2017.
"I never made a secret of my attitude toward our president, always openly supporting him," Ovechkin wrote as part of the social media movement called Putin Team.
The former Stanley Cup champion also has a picture of himself and Putin set as his Instagram profile photo.
When asked about whether he supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Capitals captain responded, "I'm Russian, right? It's not something I can control. It's not in my hands. I hope it's going to end soon and there's going to be peace in both countries. I don't control this one," adding that the invasion was "a hard situation for him."
"Obviously, it's a hard situation. I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine, and it's hard to see the war. I hope soon it's going to be over and there's going to be peace in the whole world," Ovechkin said.
The former Hart Trophy winner's wife, children, and parents are currently in Moscow as of Friday and he didn't specify whether they planned to stay amid the ongoing conflict.
At least 25 civilians and 137 soldiers were killed, while hundreds more were injured in Ukraine on the first day of Russia's invasion.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine received reports of at least 25 civilians killed and more than 100 injured in connection to "shelling and airstrikes" in a statement obtained by NBC News Friday (February 25) morning.
"This is more than the total number of civilian casualties recorded by the U.N. Human Rights Office on both sides of the contact line for the whole of 2021," the statement read, noting that 25 people were killed and 85 injured in 2021.
The UN human rights office confirmed 114 of the 127 civilian casualties took place in Government-controlled areas such as the Donetsk, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Luhansk regions.
"Because of the security situation, civilian casualties in Government-controlled territory are likely to be under-reported, and real figures, therefore, could be higher," the office said via NBC News.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced at least 137 soldiers were killed and 316 were injured on Thursday, according to preliminary figures, CNN reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country would conduct military operations in Eastern Ukraine during an NBC News translation of a speech addressing the Russian population prior to sunrise early Thursday morning in Moscow.
The announcement appeared to serve as the final action ahead of an attack by Putin and the Russian military, which the U.S. and European allies to neighboring Ukraine have attempted to prevent from taking place through diplomatic discussions.
A Ukraine interior minister confirmed to NBC News via text message that "cruise and ballistic missile strikes" were already underway shortly after Putin's announcement.
NBC News correspondent Erin McLaughlin said explosions could be heard from her live shot in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city, at 6:00 a.m. local time.
More than 1,000 protesters were reportedly arrested during anti-war protests throughout Russia amid President Putin's announcement to conduct military operations and ensuing attack on Ukraine, BNO News reported.
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