Ukraine Svitolina organizes demonstrations for forgotten compatriots

Ukraine’s former world number three Elina Svitolina said she fears people will forget her country after nearly 10 months of Russian aggression that has left cities in ruins.

One of Ukraine’s best-known athletes, he has added star power to fundraising efforts to supply power generators to Ukrainian hospitals as the offensive continues into the harsh winter months.

Did we do everything here to tell people, to show them what’s really going on in Ukraine, because a lot of people come to me and ask, is there still a war? And this is really painful to hear, he said Reuters.

The project has already raised more than $1.8 million through the online donation platform UNITED 24, a charitable donation center founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Moscow said this week there would be no Christmas break. Russia attacked its neighbor on February 24, calling it a special military operation. Tens of thousands of people have died and millions have been forced to leave their homes.

For Svitolina, who exploded in popularity at home after becoming the first Ukrainian to reach a major semi-final at Wimbledon in 2019, it is deeply personal as she has family in Odesa.

They are also struggling without electricity for a couple of days now. And it’s been a pretty, pretty challenging nine months for them and it’s not getting any better, said the 28-year-old, who is married to French tennis player Gael Monfils and gave birth to a daughter in October.

LETS DO NOTHING

Much of the sports world moved in February to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus, which were seen as a key staging area for the attack.

In contrast, the ATP and WTA – the governing organizations for men’s and women’s tennis – never banned athletes from either country.

In tennis, nothing has been done to the athletes representing these countries, said Svitolina, who added that she and her compatriots had several discussions with both the ATP and WTA about the war.

Eventually we stopped trying because it was impossible to get them to change their minds.

Last week, the ATP fined Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) £820,000 ($1 million) for banning male players from Russia and Belarus from this summer’s grass court events, months after the WTA also fined Wimbledon organizers and To the British tennis authorities.

The ATP has argued that a unilateral decision by members to ban players from both countries could set a potentially dangerous precedent. The WTA has said that individual athletes should not be barred from competing because of their country of origin.

Of course, other tournaments do not do the same because they are afraid of sanctions, said the winner of the 2018 WTA Finals. English (has) always been a huge help to Ukrainians and it is very sad to see this move.

The 16-time singles champion routinely donned Ukrainian colors on court before taking maternity leave, and after collecting bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, she is eager to bring more accolades to her country in 2023 – and beyond.

My main goal is to get to the Olympics and hopefully bring a medal to Ukraine, he said.