Elina SVITOLINA: “It is terrible that people in Ukraine are accustomed to war. I’m angry”

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina talked about how her friends and acquaintances who stayed in Ukraine were already used to the horrors of war with Russia.

– Of course, in Ukraine I talk a lot with my friends, with my family, and it is terrible, but they are already used to it. They are used to alarms. They’re used to going to bomb the bunkers as soon as they hear anything. Sleepless nights. You know, it’s a terrible thing, but they tell me it’s part of their life now, which is very, very sad. Also, there are… lots of videos for kids… there was a girl running to the bunker across the road today because some rockets flew over Kiev at noon.

The last months have been very difficult across Ukraine. Missiles were all over Ukraine. Yes, the last few months have been really tough for Ukrainians.

– Do you experience feelings of anger, or does it sometimes feel like a nightmare?

– It is different on different days. Of course I feel anger. I feel hopeless. When I see all this, I feel a pain in my heart. I have several Telegram channels all over Ukraine where I follow the news of my hometown Odessa and when the alarm is raised they broadcast news about what happened or where the missiles fell, you know how many missiles were shot down by our Ukrainian. army, air defense.

At moments like these, I experience a mixture of different emotions, but these are bad emotions. You know, this anger, this sadness, it’s just a painful feeling. It’s like a burden that I feel every day and that all Ukrainians go through. There is no escape from it and it has been in our lives for a year and a half.