Elina Svitolina hits out at Russia's Anastasia Gasanova for spreading hate against Ukraine
Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has slammed her Russian colleague Anastasia Gasanova for spreading pro-Russian sentiments and hatred towards Ukraine in the midst of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Gasanova has been expressing her Russian pride on social media for quite a while and even insulting Ukrainians, while many of her compatriots have chosen to be neutral and stay silent.
She posted a video on Instagram with the intention of telling her story of growing up in Odesa, Ukraine, as a promising tennis player and then being forced to leave due to her nationality.
Elina Svitolina brought up the issue of Gasanova spreading hatred about her country during a recent online meeting with the WTA, and she questioned the organization as to whether it was even acceptable for a player with the Russian's mentality to remain on the tour. Svitolina also described how she received no specific response, only silence, and no arguments or explanations.
"We have a very vivid example of how after months of murdering, looting, raping, kidnapping Ukrainians and seizing our territory Anastasia Gasanova still decided to promote all of this on her Instagram page by repeating Russia's propaganda narratives about the war to justify the decision behind the invasion and all these crimes Russia commit on Ukrainian people," Svitolina said.
"My questions were, is this even normal, is it fine for the WTA that such a person stays on the tour? Is it fair towards the Ukrainian women and all other participants of the tour? In response, we heard the same answer as for Lesia's and Marta's questions... silence. No arguments. No explanation," she further added.
The former World No. 3 went on to say that she and her compatriots would not be leaving the issue behind and are waiting for a response from the WTA.
"We will not leave this issue behind, because it is logically connected with the safety issue of Ukrainian women," Elina Svitolina said.
"If the Russians and Belarusians on the tour support or justify military aggression in the same way as Gasanova, it means that they wish Ukrainians, our relatives, our friends and ultimately us to be dead. Is it the norm for the 21st century to stay in the same environment with such people? We are waiting for answers from WTA," she added.
Elina Svitolina makes WTA Tour return after being a mother
Elina Svitolina last competed in the Miami Open a year ago before taking a long break and giving birth to her first child, daughter Ska, with husband and fellow tennis pro, Gael Monfils.
The Ukrainian then returned to action at this week's WTA 500 Charleston Open, where she lost in the first round to Yulia Putintseva. Putintseva rallied for a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory in a match that lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes.
Elina Svitolina giving a big smile after getting a ton of crowd support in Charleston 🫶 https://t.co/tkQyfKJzHk