"They applaud when they kill": Zelenskyy reacts to Harlan's disqualification for refusing to shake hands with Russian at the World Cup

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) completely disregarded Ukrainians and turned a blind eye to Russian aggression by deciding to disqualify Olga Harlan from the World Championships in Milan for refusing to shake hands with her Russian rival. In this way, the organisation once again demonstrated that not everyone in the world condemns the crimes of a terrorist state and understands the value of life.

This was stated by Mykhailo Podolyak on his Instagram page. The adviser to Andriy Yarmak, head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, supported Harlan's action and emphasised that the war in Ukraine will continue until the whole world realises the full nature of the aggressor country.

Smirnova's brother serves in the Russian army, which the international federation turned a blind eye to

"Today we have the World Fencing Championships in Milan. Olga Harlan wins in the 1/32 finals against a Russian woman. A representative of a country that is currently waging an aggressive war, killing our civilians, destroying, raping, doing whatever it wants... And Olga does not want to shake hands with a representative of the country that is the aggressor. And what does the international federation do? That's right, it disqualifies Harlan, a representative of a country that wants the world to live by certain value rules. Therefore, when you ask how long this war will last, keep in mind that it will last as long as it takes for the world to realise that we cannot tolerate murderers and we cannot allow them to participate in competitions," Podolyak said.

He added that the attempts of international federations to pretend that athletes from Russia are not to blame for their country's attack on Ukraine do not stand up to criticism. "Look where this is leading... You stood up for the athletes, saying they were innocent. No, they are not guilty, they just applaud when Ukrainian children are killed. And this is the problem of the modern world. Black and white. We still need to recognise Russia as an aggressor and ban it from participating anywhere to advertise the war," Zelenskyy's adviser concluded.

We would like to remind you that Olga Harlan defeated Russia's Anna Smirnova in the round of 32 of the 2023 World Cup in Milan. After the fight, our compatriot refused to shake hands with her opponent, who staged a real circus, refusing to leave the track. The Russian representative lodged a protest against the outcome of the duel, which was rejected.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the propaganda TV channel Match TV published a photo of the denunciation that Anna Smirnova wrote against Olga Harlan at the 2023 World Cup. The Ukrainian Fencing Federation has already responded to the disqualification of the 2008 Olympic champion.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!