A Ukrainian Olympic star has blasted Russian athletes for not speaking out over the war in his native country.
Skier Ivan Kovbasnyuk, who competed at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, has been greatly affected by the ongoing war in his country, from both a personal and professional standpoint. The 29-year-old is unable to train at home in the Carpathian Mountains because war in the country has damaged the power grid so severely there's not enough energy to make the chairlifts operate.
As damage continues to be inflicted on Ukrainian soil, Kovbasnyuk has called on Russian athletes to do more to help end the war. “It's not fair when Ukrainian sportsmen don't have a chance to participate in the Olympics because they are dying on the battlefields while Russian athletes are just silently supporting (Vladimir) Putin's crime regime,'' Kovbasnyuk said after competing in the combined race at the Alpine skiing world championships on Wednesday.
