The Daily Star newspaper reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin invited MMA fighter Vladimir Minev to join the Russian army to fight in Ukraine, despite the fact that his brother died in the war.

Minev received the heartbreaking news after it was revealed that his brother Piotr, who had already been drafted into the army to invade Ukraine, had been killed in action seven months earlier.

The player confirmed the news on social networks, where he wrote: “Friends, the world has collapsed and turned upside down, and life has changed dramatically, but does not stop. For all known reasons, I’ve put the blogging on “meta” on hold. I will keep in touch via Telegram. Links to accounts are in stories.

Minev would not be able to defend his AMC middleweight title as an MMA fighter and he accepted the invitation without hesitation.

He continued: “I accept the agenda and go to the military registration and enlistment office, and there, as the country decides (I will).”

Johnny Khoury