By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ukraine’s former world number three Elina Svitolina said she fears people are forgetting about her compatriots, almost 10 months into Russia’s ongoing invasion that has reduced cities to rubble.
One of Ukraine’s most celebrated athletes, she has added star power to a fundraising effort to supply electricity generators for Ukrainian hospitals as the invasion continues into the bitter winter months.
“We’re here to do everything to tell people, to introduce them (to) what is really happening in Ukraine, because a lot of people come to me and ask, ‘Is there still a war?’ And this is really painful to hear,” she told Reuters.
The effort has already raised more than $1.8 million on an online donation platform through UNITED 24, a hub for charitable giving launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Moscow said this week there would be no “Christmas ceasefire”. Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24, calling it a “special military operation”. Tens of thousands of people have died while millions have been displaced.
For Svitolina, who skyrocketed to popularity at home when she became the first Ukrainian to reach a major semi-final at Wimbledon in 2019, the matter is deeply personal as she has family in Odesa.
“They are also struggling without the electricity right now for a couple of days. And it’s been a quite, quite challenging nine months for them and it’s not getting better,” said the 28-year-old, who is married to French tennis player Gael Monfils and gave birth to a daughter in October.
‘NOTHING DONE’
Much of the sports world moved to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus – seen as a key staging area for the invasion – in February.
In contrast, the ATP and WTA – the governing organisations for men’s and women’s tennis – never banned athletes from the two countries.
“In tennis there’s been nothing done towards these athletes representing these countries,” said Svitolina, who added that she and her compatriots had “multiple conversations” with both the ATP and the WTA about the war.
“In the end, we stopped trying because it was just impossible to convince them to change their minds.”
Last week, the ATP fined Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) 820,000 pounds ($1 million) for banning male players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s summer grasscourt events, months after the WTA slapped Wimbledon organisers and British tennis authorities with fines as well.
The ATP has maintained that a “unilateral decision” by members to exclude players from the two countries can set a potentially dangerous precedent. The WTA has said that individual athletes should not be prevented from competing due to their country of origin.
“Of course other tournaments will not do the same thing because they’re scared of the sanctions,” said the 2018 WTA Finals winner. “England (has) always been a huge help to Ukrainian people and it’s very sad to see this move.”
The 16-times singles title-winner routinely wore the colours of Ukraine on court before taking time off for pregnancy, and after collecting bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, she’s eager to bring more accolades to her country in 2023 – and beyond.
“My main goal is to get into the Olympics and hopefully to bring back a medal for Ukraine,” she said.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
