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‘It appears that evidently athletes from these nations (Russia and Belarus) don’t perceive in any respect why they’re now being disqualified from competitions all around the world.’
IMAGE: Protestors collect exterior the Russian-owned worldwide funding financial institution to display towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian-owned financial institution in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday. {Photograph}: Janos Kummer/Getty Pictures
Former excessive bounce world champion Bohdan Bondarenko stated on Wednesday he was shocked that many Russian and Belarusian athletes consider that no conflict is going down in his native Ukraine as a consequence of heavy state censorship of the information.
Bondarenko, who was world champion in 2013 and received a bronze medal on the 2016 Rio Olympics, additionally stated Russia’s invasion had cut up his household, along with his mom and others underneath bombardment in Ukraine whereas his spouse and daughter had escaped to Hungary.
“(Many Russian and Belarusian athletes) assume nothing is occurring in Ukraine. Apparently, that is what they’re instructed within the information programmes,” he instructed Poland’s Onet web site.
“They do not realise there’s full lawlessness and that they (Russian forces) are killing us. They assume it is not true.”
Russia tightly controls reporting of what it calls its “particular army operation” in Ukraine. It says the operation is geared toward eradicating the “neo-Nazis and drug addicts” in energy in Kyiv who it says pose a direct risk to Russia’s safety.
Belarus has been a key staging space for Russia’s invasion.
Bondarenko, 32, is at present in Rome and attempting to hitch his spouse and daughter in Budapest.
IMAGE: Ukranian excessive jumper, Bohdan Bondarenko, who missed final yr’s Tokyo Olympics as a consequence of damage, added that he revered strange Russians and Belarusians who had taken to the streets to protest towards the invasion of Ukraine. {Photograph}: Denis Balibouse/Reuters/File
For the reason that conflict started final Thursday, Russian and Belarusian groups and athletes have discovered themselves frozen out from worldwide competitions throughout sports activities.
“I’m simply shocked that some folks do not get it, additionally my pals, with whom I competed as an athlete,” Bondarenko stated.
“It appears that evidently athletes from these nations (Russia and Belarus) don’t perceive in any respect why they’re now being disqualified from competitions all around the world.”
Bondarenko, who missed final yr’s Tokyo Olympics as a consequence of damage, added that he revered strange Russians and Belarusians who had taken to the streets to protest towards the invasion of Ukraine.
He stated his mom, brother and grandmother have been caught of their house metropolis of Kharkiv, which has seen probably the most intensive bombardment of the conflict thus far.
“(They) go all the way down to the basement day by day when the bombing begins,” Bondarenko stated.
“They spend virtually each night time there, they’re chilly. We speak on the cellphone, though the connection breaks.
“On the way in which out of the town, the Russians are shelling many vehicles. It’s troublesome to remain, and it’s troublesome to go away. Each choices are harmful.”
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