Ukrainian tennis player from the top 100 of the world ranking Oleksandra Oliynikova (95th) reacted angrily on social media to the fact that another Ukrainian tennis player, Nadia Kichenok, who divorced her husband, celebrated the New Year in the company of former Russian players and took a joint photo with them.
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“Sports have an important function of national representation. In times of war, it is the duty of athletes to tell the world the truth about the realities of their country,” wrote 24-year-old Oleksandra Oliynykova . “That is why it hurts and disgusts me to see colleagues who, playing in major tournaments and having a wide audience, have completely distanced themselves from reality – living the best life somewhere far from Ukraine.”
To congratulate Ukrainians on the New Year in the company of Russians, among whom is a participant in a propaganda tournament organized as a challenge to international sports structures and financed by Gazprom — one of the main sponsors of the war against Ukraine — is the height of cynicism. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have seen this.
And every time I am torn apart by the realization that my country is represented by people who have no connection with the reality of those who live here. Those who celebrated the New Year to the sounds of alarms and explosions of air defense systems.
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I don't know how to properly react to such situations and whether the culture of cancellation is effective here. Especially when, after a wave of criticism, people quickly delete photos and write general phrases about wanting peace (or maybe about wanting a “deal” so that they can travel carefree with their Russian girlfriends again?).
But it is precisely because of such people that the world's perception of what is really happening in Ukraine is distorted. I am ashamed to have such colleagues. I do not fully understand what this tennis player stands for. But it is definitely not what I stand for and the majority of Ukrainians who live through war every day: shelling, losses, whose relatives and friends are fighting, and who seek not an illusory “peace”, but real justice.”
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We should add that one of the Kichenok sisters was photographed with former Russians Yulia Putintseva (playing for Kazakhstan), Daria Kasatkina (playing for Australia), and Anna Danilina (playing for Kazakhstan). They were also posed with Serbian Aleksandra Krunić and Kasatkina's girlfriend, figure skater Natalia Zabiyako (playing for Canada).
By the way, Dnipro native Nadia Kychenok has already responded to her compatriot's accusations.
“I'm sorry that this offended people,” wrote Nadiya Kichenok . “My pro-Ukrainian position is unchanged. And everyone knows it.”
That tournament in St. Petersburg is the same trigger for me. I don’t like that people play there. Yulia (Putintseva) and I haven’t talked about it yet, because I didn’t follow tennis in the off-season. And, unfortunately, not everyone understands that the war is still going on. I promise to talk to her about this topic. And tell and show what is happening in Ukraine through companies like Gazprom.
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But I definitely don't accept the accusation that I'm sitting on two chairs facing each other. I'm Ukrainian, and there's a war in my country. And in order to continue playing tennis and defending our flag, I also had to leave my home.
But I have one goal for myself in the war – not to lose my humanity. And I'm sure that not everyone will like it either. Because what is humanity when we are being killed. But yes.
I admit that I am a public person. And I bear a great responsibility. What you wrote “Russians”: first of all, none of the players play for the aggressor country. And this is a fact.
You know, thank you for your interest in my life. Because up until this moment, maybe two years, no one was interested, when I was having a really hard time. And next to me, you know, was one of those girls in the photo, the same Kasatkina that you were hating on, I also didn't understand why.
But I'm sorry – because of the damn war, people have become so angry. Because you didn't even wait for my answer and spread false information. And instead of training, I have to make excuses now.
I accept the claims in my favor, and I honestly admit that this photo is difficult to perceive, sitting under shelling and when Ukrainians are dying at the hands of Russians. My father is also in Ukraine now. And he lives in an ordinary house without a bomb shelter.
“Once again, I acknowledge my responsibility. I am ready to be responsible for my actions and the consequences of these actions. And I will always be honest in my answers.”
Previously, “FACTS” reported that the wife of a Ukrainian national football player stunned Russians with a post on social media.
Photos from social networks