"Together with the Russians, they are trying to survive": Ukrainian biathlete talks about the attitude towards Belarusians and threats to those who disagree from Lukashenko

Biathlon world champion and Olympic winner Olena Bilosiuk spoke about the attitude towards Belarus and its athletes after the full-scale invasion of Russia and her support for Lukashenko. Some biathletes have been openly campaigning for the "batka" since the scandalous presidential election in 2020, when the Kremlin's henchman usurped power in the country, and some were almost deported from international competitions in Belarus for refusing to take his side.

Today, on the one hand, the Belarusian regiment named after Kastus Kalinowski is fighting for Ukraine, and on the other, Belarus is one of the few open allies of the Russian Federation, from where tanks and other military equipment were sent to Kyiv in February 2022. And in a conversation with OBOZ.UA, Olena spoke about her experience of communicating with Belarusian biathletes, as representatives of Belarus also played for our national team.

"The biathletes we had - I don't want to say anything bad about these people, because some are better, some are worse, but some took an absolutely neutral position, others were for 'batko' and even signed letters in his support, and some were against Lukashenko," said Bilosiuk.

"And we have a story when a girl did not sign a letter in support of Lukashenko, and she was almost deported home that very day because she had already become an enemy of the people. But on the same day, she won a competition, but I don't remember if it was the World Championships or the World Cup, and only this medal, in fact, saved her life and the lives of her relatives," the champion admitted.

According to Olena, there are still athletes in Belarus who seem to be protesting, but "they are immediately strangled, suppressed, and also cut off from oxygen."

"Where do they have to go? Athletes have a short sporting life, so they compete alongside the rocks and seem to be trying to survive. Some finish, some continue, but it's neither fish nor flesh. Either you show your point of view and fight, or you don't compete, finish and live your life as you do, together with your partner, with the aggressor country," Bilosiuk believes.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that Ukrainian biathletes were ready to shoot Russians on their front and did not understand their participation in the Olympics.

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