An African star has terminated his contract with a Russian topflight side following FIFA's announcement that foreign players would be allowed to leave the country on an interim basis if they wished to do so.
Following the first few bombings in Ukraine, a number of non-native footballers in both countries expressed that they feared for their lives due to the ongoing conflict, while some complained that they were stranded.
Last week, the world football organising body confirmed that foreign players in Russia could suspend their contracts with their clubs until the end of the season with no consequence for their departure. This also comes after FIFA and UEFA banned clubs from Europe's largest country from all of their competitions until further notice.
Scroll through the gallery below to see some of the African players who ply their trade in the Russian topflight, per Transfermarkt.
Nigerian star Sylvester Igboun has now left his club, FK Nizhny Novgorod, who were only promoted to the top tier this season.
"Sylvester has cancelled his contract because of the ongoing problem between Russia and Ukraine," one of Igboun's advisers told BBC Sport Africa.
"It's a personal decision taken by the player after speaking at length with his family."
Read: Why Ghana WC playoff squad not revealed
The 31-year-old, who has six caps for the Super Eagles, only joined the minnows in February 2022 after terminating his contract with Dynamo Moscow by mutual consent, and he now departs having made just one appearance to date, per Transfermarkt.