PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova on Saturday sharply criticised Russian tennis players on the tour over their stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following her third-round exit at the French Open.
Oliynykova lost in straight sets on Saturday to Russia’s Diana Shnaider, whom she had also criticised earlier in the week over what she said were actions that supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian has been outspoken over the war in her home country and said players from Russia were allowed to participate in international tournaments even though they openly took part in events sponsored by Russian companies linked to the war effort or even after what she said was promoting the positions of Russia in relation to the war on social media.
“The Russian players, let’s be real, they don’t want to communicate. They have these horrible beliefs. For me this is something what I think we need to stop to accept in the professional sports,” Oliynykova told a press conference.
“If they don’t want to hear and they continue to spread this propaganda, then there should be some mechanism in our tour to stop this,” she said.
“If I will stay silent… I don’t see any sense of being here. I believe that the mission of the sport is to unite people to stay together for some right things. The silence here on tour is dangerous, and that’s not right.”
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian players have competed on the men’s and women’s tours without their nations’ flag, as neutral athletes, as in many other sports and events, including the Olympics.
“I know that some people disagree with my actions. I know that some people would prefer that I stay silent. But what I do is not about politics, it’s about humanity,” Oliynykova said.
“When people are being killed, while children are dying, when violence is justified or celebrated… we cannot protect those who support or excuse such actions.”
When asked about Oliynykova’s comments, Shnaider said she had not seen them and she played exhibition tournaments in Russia as a way of going back to see her family.
“About social media, I have no idea what she found. I have no idea, so I don’t have any comments on that,” Shnaider said.
When asked specifically to give her thoughts on the war in Ukraine, Shnaider said: “I’m not going to speak anything about the situation. I’m here just to speak about tennis and about my game, about the second week of a French Open. Just enjoy making it for the first time, and that’s it. Just enjoy the win today.”
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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