After the invasion of the country by Russia, professional athletes share their emotion and display their concern, urging Europeans to unity and solidarity.
At dawn, Andriy Yarmolenko, captain of the Ukrainian national football team, is one of the first to sound the alarm. “Pray for Ukraine. #NoWar» he wrote in a tweet. On Instagram, the West Ham striker “urged” from Wednesday “every Ukrainian to unite, to show devotion to the country, to support our army”. He was then joined by many personalities, who were worried about a possible Russian attack on Ukrainian territory, beyond the Donbass.
During the Champions League match between Benfica and Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday night, the Portuguese club’s Ukrainian striker, Roman Yaremchuk, dedicated his goal to his country, with a t-shirt displaying a Ukrainian crest.
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???? Pasveer fends off Ramos’ strike but isn’t responsive enough to stop the Ukrainian striker’s recovery! pic.twitter.com/cPAVGabzBm— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) February 23, 2022
Thursday morning, when the first signs of a Russian invasion began to circulate, Elina Svitolina-Monfils, Ukrainian tennis player married to Frenchman Gaël Monfils, shared her emotion with her more than 150,000 followers on Twitter. “I can not…” A short message, accompanied by emojis of broken hearts and bursting into tears, and a profile picture in the colors of his country, displaying the slogan Pray for Ukraine. “I am proud to be Ukrainian. We unite in this extremely difficult time for the sake of peace and the future of our country. Glory to Ukraine”, the player had declared the day before in another post.
“Pray for our country”
“Ukraine is under attack right now. Please spread the word and pray for our country!” asked for his part Ruslan Malinovskyi, Ukrainian midfielder from Atalanta Bergamo. Under his tweet, a map that locates the various strikes of the Russian army, and a link to transfer funds by crypto-currencies in support of local populations. The comments, coming mostly from Italian fans, are unanimous, and circulate the hashtags #PrayForUkraine, #StandForUkraine.
Former tennis champion Alexandr Dolgopolov also reacted: “Please keep Ukraine in your thoughts and prayers. My hometown kyiv and all of Ukraine are under attack right now! The bombardments started in the night!” “Everyone who is free should know that now only Ukraine stands between them and a crazed regime! Europe, the United States, Britain and everyone else, take a stand. We need more help” he added in another tweet. “For now, fighting on all fronts, no big captures for the occupiers. Hang on, guys.”
In an ephemeral post – and much more violent – on Instagram, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian midfielder for Manchester City, directly targeted Vladimir Putin. “I hope you die the most painful death, you monster!” The post was later deleted. After the recognition of the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zinchenko said “My country belongs to the Ukrainians and no one will ever be able to take it over. We won’t give up! Glory to Ukraine”.