@i_turenko Якщо підсумовуючи останні події, аби перебивати їм все більше і більше доводиться підіймати планку, але чим вище тем поріг сприйняття менше. Гадаю скоро будуть використовувати інші варіанти.
❗️🇺🇦Oleksandra Oliynykova to refuse joint photo and handshake with 🇭🇺Anna Bondar at WTA 250 in Cluj-Napoca
Ukrainian tennis player Oleksandra Oliynykova will not take part in the traditional pre-match joint photo or shake hands with Hungarian player Anna Bondar during their match on February 3 at the WTA 250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca.
Oliynykova said this in an exclusive comment to the BTU portal.
“Anna Bondar participated in the North Palmyra Trophies tournament in December 2022 - an event held in Russia in open disregard of international sanctions and restrictions imposed on the aggressor state.
The tournament was funded by Gazprom, one of the key financial pillars of Russia’s war machine.
These are the same funds Russia uses to kill and maim Ukrainian women and children. These are the same funds used to destroy our parents, brothers, and husbands who are defending their families, cities, and villages on their own land.”
Oliynykova emphasized that Bondar’s decision to play in Russia came after the world had already learned about the mass crimes committed by the Russian army in Bucha, Irpin, and Izium, as well as after the liberation of Kherson, where mass graves, torture chambers, and numerous documented cases of torture and sexual violence by Russian troops were discovered.
“To travel to Russia in December 2022 to play in a tournament and accept money funded by Gazprom is, from a moral standpoint, equivalent to playing in a tournament in Nazi Germany in 1941 and being paid with jewelry taken from Jews murdered in the Auschwitz and Treblinka death camps. It is the same evil - only 80 years later.”
The Ukrainian tennis player stressed that her decision is not personal, but a matter of principle.
“This is about humanity, human dignity, and basic human values. I cannot ignore this. The global tennis community should not ignore it. Fans should not forget about it.
That is why I cannot bring myself to take photos or shake hands with a person who has received money from sources directly linked to the war against my country.”
At the same time, Oliynykova noted that she does not rule out changing her position in the future.
“I allow for the possibility that Anna made a mistake when she made that decision - although it was an extremely serious one. I would be ready to shake her hand in the future if she publicly acknowledges this mistake, apologizes to the Ukrainian people, and clearly and directly condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Russia as the aggressor state, and the war criminal Putin.”
Oliynykova also emphasized that, as an active WTA player, she intends to act with full respect for and cooperation with the WTA in addressing such situations.
“I am part of the WTA, and I respect our organization. That is why I am ready to work together with the WTA - openly, constructively, and responsibly - to ensure that tennis is protected from actions that, by their inhumane and anti-human nature, undermine its core values.
Tennis cannot exist outside the boundaries of humanity, and we are obliged to respond when those boundaries are deliberately violated.”
❗️«Через російські атаки».
🇺🇦Олександра Олійникова після дебютної перемоги в основній сітці турніру WTA, видала емоційну промову, в якій розповіла, що могла не доїхати на ці змагання.
📹 / WTA TV