FIFA refuses President Zelenskyy’s request to have him broadcast a video message about world peace before the World Cup final.

FIFA has reportedly turned down a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a message of world peace that he intended to broadcast before Sunday’s World Cup final.

Zelensky offered to appear in a video and spoke to fans at the stadium before the Qatar match.

“We thought FIFA wanted to use their platform for the common good,” a source told CNN, adding that Zelenskyy’s office was surprised by the negative response.

MailOnline contacted FIFA for clarification but did not receive a response before publication.

FILE: FIFA has not yet given a reason for rejecting Zelenskyy’s application. Pictured is President Gianni Infantino addressing the media during the press conference ahead of the third place matches and final of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Main Media Center December 16.

Talks between Zelensky and FIFA are still ongoing, CNN said, meaning a different message could be agreed before Sunday’s game between Argentina and France.

Ukraine’s president has spoken at many of the world’s biggest events to drum up support for the country’s defense against the Russian invasion that began on February 24 this year.

Zelensky’s appearances include the Group of 20 Summit, the Grammys and the Cannes Film Festival.

He has also performed with several celebrities and journalists, most recently Sean Penn, David Letterman and Bear Grylls.

Zelensky, who will address the European Commission via video link on December 13, has performed at the Group of 20 summit, the Grammys and the Cannes Film Festival.

The news came after Russia fired a series of devastating missile salvos against Ukraine, destroying vital infrastructure and burying civilians under the rubble.

Almost every major city was targeted in Friday’s attack, with explosions reported in the capital Kyiv, the second-largest city Kharkiv and Kryvyi Rih – in the center of the country – where an apartment building feared to have trapped people was hit .

According to initial reports, two people were killed in the first blast and eight others – including a three-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl – were injured.

Several other people, including a young child, may be buried in the building.

Russia has targeted civilian infrastructure in Ukraine after failing to achieve victory on the battlefield, killing non-combatants and bombing national power grid infrastructure to freeze the country into submission.

Putin is trying to fuel a new refugee crisis by escalating attacks over the winter.

Smoke rises from the rubble of a house in Kryvyi Rih after it was hit by a Russian missile early Friday in another massive bombing of the country

The ruins of a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Kherson are pictured after Russia fired missiles at nearly every major city across the country

Vinnytsia in west-central Ukraine, the central city of Poltava, the southern port hub of Odessa and the northern Sumy region were also attacked – with power outages and internet outages.

Andrii Osadchuk, a Ukrainian MP, said about 70 rockets were fired on Friday.

According to the Kyiv Independent, about 40 of them were aimed at Kyiv alone, and 37 were reportedly shot down.

A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said Russian TU-95 nuclear-armed bombers fired Kh-101 and Kh-555 cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities from over Russian territory.

Kaliber missiles were also launched from warships and submarines into the Black Sea, along with Tu-22 bombers and Su-35 jets firing Kh-59 cruise missiles.

The attack also involved S-300 missiles, which are traditionally used for air defense but are also capable of attacking ground targets.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and it was not clear what critical infrastructure was hit.

Russia launched another volley of missiles against Ukraine, targeting virtually every major city and its key infrastructure (photo, Kyiv People’s Sanctuary).

The photo shows civilians sheltering in a metro station during an airstrike alert in central Kiev as the Russians fire dozens of rockets at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure