MOSCOW, March 5 Olympic champion in synchronized swimming Marina Golyadkina stood up for Russia against the background of the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine.
"I was born and raised in Donetsk. I was there under shelling in 2014. I have seen people kill their own. Everyone knew that civilians were being bombed in the Donbass, literally exterminating the people. I felt this war. And today I clearly understand who is involved in it. It is a pity that the world community has not raised such a fuss for the citizens of Donetsk and Lugansk all these years, for which Russia had the courage to stand up. It is as if the people who used to live in the Donbass have forgotten what happened there. And this war did not hurt anyone", the athlete wrote on Instagram.
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Born in Donetsk, Golyadkina played for the Ukrainian national team until 2015, after which she received Russian citizenship and left the country. She added that she hopes that in the future she will be able to freely visit her hometown, and wished everyone «a peaceful sky over their heads.» Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine early in the morning on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass.