Former Everton ace and former Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has been called up by Vladimir Putin to fight in the war against Ukraine.
The 37-year-old made 77 appearances in two and a half years at Goodison Park, also representing the likes of Spartak Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow, as well as winning more than 40 caps for the Russian national team.
Now, however, Bilyaletdinov is one of an additional 300,000 troops Putin is calling up for his invasion of Ukraine, according to reports.
Bilyaletdinov’s father, Rinat, confirmed to sports.ru that his son was one of the additional men called up to fight in the war.
He said, “Diniyar really got a summons.
“It is difficult to talk about emotions, because he did not serve, although he did military service, but he was specific, with a sports bias. It was 19 years ago.
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“That is, yes, he took the oath, but he served in the sports line. The law still says: call people up to 35 years old, and he is 37, so there is some kind of inconsistency here.
“Now he will find out if this agenda is correct or if it was sent ahead of time. Anything can happen.”
He added: “If there was a general mobilization, then there is no need to ask questions. Meanwhile, the president has established a partial one, everything must be according to the law.”
