MOSCOW, February 25 VTB United League lost its second member two days after after the Polish basketball club Zelena Gora, following the Estonian «Kalev», announced its withdrawal from the tournament on Twitter. There are 10 clubs left in the VTB United League championship, eight of which represent Russia, one each — Kazakhstan and Belarus. «We «We would like to thank the VTB United League for three exceptional years of competition at the highest level,» the statement said. «However, at the moment there are things more important than basketball. We oppose violence and war. We are withdrawing from the tournament.» 1st place in the standings with 2 wins in 13 matches. Last season, Zielona Gora reached the 1/4 finals of the playoffs, where they lost in the series to UNICS Kazan (0-2). On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that the circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» According to the Russian leader, all responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine. He called on the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Ukrainian authorities, lay down their arms and go home.
