"Why do Russians provoke?" Svitolina reacts to Kharlan's situation at the World Cup

Ukraine's top-ranked tennis player Elina Svitolina has expressed support for Olga Kharlan, who was disqualified from the World Fencing Championships for refusing to shake hands with her Russian rival. The tennis player called the actions of the representative of the aggressor country, who staged a circus on the track, provocative and demanded that our sabre fencer be punished.

Svitolina said this on the air of Voice of America. The semi-finalist of the Wimbledon 2023 British Open tennis championships stressed that Russian athletes behave in the same way as their country, which vilely attacked Ukraine on 24 February last year.

"I believe that this is a complete disrespect on the part of the International Fencing Federation (FIE). And why do the Russians provoke and disrespect our position? We have a very strong position, we are united by one goal - to win and return our territories that were taken from us. Our soldiers who are defending our country are dying every day. It's just terrible what's happening in the world of sports now, where there is no respect for our decision not to shake hands with the Russians and Belarusians," Svitolina said.

At the 2023 World Cup, Olga Kharlan refused to shake hands with her Russian rival Anna Smirnova, who openly supports the Russian Armed Forces. The Fencing Federation of Ukraine (FFU) stood up for the athlete and is preparing to file an appeal. Our sabre fencer herself said that she was simply killed by the decision to exclude her from the tournament.

For its part, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that federations take a more responsible attitude to matches between Ukrainians and Russians, expressing solidarity with our compatriots.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, MP and Olympic wrestling champion Zhan Beleniuk said that Kharlan and the International Fencing Federation (FIE) had initially agreed to a deal that provided for a refusal to shake hands with the Russian. Later, the head coach of the Ukrainian national fencing team, Natalia Konrad, explained what actually happened to Kharlan.

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