The presence of the Italian World Cup winners Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi in Russia for a sports event has sparked outrage. The former players signed autographs and posed for selfies with Kremlin supporters on the day Moscow launched one of its most brutal missile attacks on Kyiv.

Pirlo, the former Juventus and Milan midfielder and one of the defining figures of Italian football is now manager of United FC in Dubai. He was photographed on Sunday alongside the Russia striker Artem Dzyuba, during “Football Day” celebrations at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. In March 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dzyuba, the national side’s former captain, said he was “proud to be Russian”.

The event on Sunday featured exhibition matches, autograph sessions and appearances by former footballers and was organised by Fonbet, Russia’s largest betting company.

Prominent pro-Kremlin artists performed throughout the day, including Yaroslav Dronov – better known as Shaman – whose songs have become unofficial anthems of the war.

Pirlo’s presence reignited criticism that first emerged in October, when he signed a deal with Fonbet as a global ambassador. Fonbet announced the partnership on Instagram, saying: “We welcome to our team a World Cup champion and two-time Champions League winner. As a global ambassador, the Italian will represent Fonbet in Russia and international markets.”

Ukraine’s news.telegraf described Pirlo as the “legendary partner of Ukrainian player Andriy Shevchenko who sold himself to Russia”, and social media reactions were similarly unforgiving. “Andrea Pirlo sold himself to dirty Russian money,” one wrote.

Fonbet, which has murky ownership structures and reported ties to the Russian authorities, operated as Milan’s regional partner in Russia before the club suspended the agreement in 2023 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing the move as a gesture of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Pirlo and Materazzi were in Moscow as Russia launched one of its largest combined drone and missile assaults on Kyiv, targeting civilian infrastructure. Russia used its powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile for a third time in Ukraine as part of a massive attack on the capital and its surrounding region that killed at least four people and injured about 100.

Among the fiercest responses was that of the Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was barred from racing in this year’s Winter Olympic Games after attempting to compete with a helmet dedicated to Ukraine’s war dead.

“Today was one of the largest Russian attacks, during which 600 drones and 90 missiles were launched at Ukraine,’’ he wrote on X. “Also today, Italian football legend Andrea Pirlo was spotted in Moscow next to Russian footballer Dzyuba, who openly supports the Kremlin’s policy and the killing of Ukrainians. It’s sad to see childhood legends turn into moral bankrupts for whom nothing is more valuable than Russian roubles. Shame.”

The European parliament vice-president, Pina Picierno, a member of Italy’s Democratic Party, said: “Money can buy many things. It can even, incredibly, lead a sports champion to sign footballs in Moscow at the very same moment that regime is indiscriminately killing civilians and threatening European countries.

“What money cannot buy, however, is credibility, integrity and the ability to stand in the affairs of the world with honour and a straight spine. It is a great shame that Pirlo evidently has not understood these things.”

Pirlo defended the visit, saying: “We came here exclusively for sport and for the children. Football has the unique power to bring people together, to overcome borders and to offer a moment of joy, especially to young kids who dream of becoming footballers.

“Our presence in Moscow is linked solely to our passion for the game and to the affection of the fans who have always supported us throughout our careers.”

Materazzi said: “We are here for a celebration of football, to meet the fans and to show that the ball speaks a universal language. Seeing the enthusiasm of children on the pitch is the only thing that matters to us today. We are not here to do politics, but to honour football and the people who love it.”

The controversy echoes the backlash faced last year by another Italian football hero, Francesco Totti, after he travelled to Moscow as a guest of honour at the International RB Award, an event dedicated to sport and betting.

“I am not a politician or a diplomat, I am a man of sport who promotes its values around the world,” Totti said at the time, rejecting accusations that the visit carried political significance.