Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev calls for peace amid Ukraine intervention

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) - Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev protested Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine with a message of peace on Friday following his semifinal victory at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The World No.7 wrote "No War Please" on a TV broadcast camera after beating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 to reach the final.

The 24-year-old will take on Czech Jiri Vesely in the final to win the trophy.

Russia's military intervention in Ukraine entered its second day on Friday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv from several directions.

Putin had ordered the military intervention on Thursday, just days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy the neighboring country, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing nearly 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations consistently rejected by Moscow.