Russia captain quits Zenit

Russian captain Artem Dzyuba announced his departure from Zenit Saint Petersburg on Sunday, two months after requesting to be kept out of the national team due to the Ukraine war.

“Thank you for everything, Saint-Pet’!” the 33-year-old striker posted on Instagram.

A video of a man dressed as a superhero reading a thank-you letter in front of the Gazprom Arena, the Zenit stadium, followed the message.

The club expressed its gratitude for Dzyuba’s “sparkling play, tremendous devotion, goals, assists, records, and our combined successes” in a statement.

In the summer of 2015, the striker joined the club. On Saturday, he lost 1-0 to Nizhny Novgorod in his final league match.

Between 2019 and 2022, Dzyuba won four Russian league titles with Zenit, scoring 108 goals in 249 games.

He didn’t say if he planned to stay in Russia or travel overseas.

Dzyuba made news in mid-March when he skipped a meeting of the Russian national team, which he has led since 2018.

The player’s absence was related to Russia’s war in Ukraine, where he has family.

“I will not attend the national team camp,” he declared at the time, “not for political reasons, but for family ones.” “I like to spend time with my family during this time.”

Russian national teams and clubs were barred from all FIFA and UEFA events until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.