Anastasia Hasanova, the player ranked 154th in the WTA ranking, posted a video and several controversial messages about the situation in Ukraine on Instagram. The Russian athlete recalled the “coup of 2014” and said that Kyiv “could have stopped fire” in Donetsk and Luhansk so that the “special operation” did not begin.

Anastasia HasanovaPhoto: Arun SANKAR/AFP/Profimedia

The 23-year-old athlete made a series of posts for her list of “best friends” on Instagram, but they came out and caused a real scandal, reports Ole.

Hasanova, who was present at the Transylvania Open (the tournament was held in Cluj-Napoca), spoke after the explosions on the bridge in Crimea.

“Does anyone care that civilians were there? If the bombing of civilians happens in Ukraine, it is a tragedy, but if it happens in Russia, it is normal, it is worth it.

Unfortunately, God did not give them intelligence. Why are they so happy? If they want to return Crimea… destruction is not construction.

I have been silent for a long time and I am tired of being silent. Now I will tell my story from 2014.

In 2013, I came to the city of Odesa, where my training base was. My entire team was from there, that is, Ukrainians. Then my sponsor was also a Ukrainian. Everything was going well until 2014, when the coup happened. There were mass protests and they say that President Viktor Yanukovych (not the former president of Ukraine) fled the country… No! In fact, they threatened to kill.

I say what I and my closest friends have seen. We were forced to leave Ukraine. According to eyewitnesses, the Ukrainian military killed people because they spoke Russian. After May 2, 2014, you could not wear the equipment of the Russian national team, you could be shot without hesitation.

It is interesting because Russia, as many say, occupied Donetsk, but for some reason the people of Donetsk come to work in Russia. Every time I asked about Donetsk over the years, the answer was: “They are shooting there.”

Do you know the reaction of the people of Donetsk when Putin announced a military operation? They had tears of happiness in their eyes. People there got used to the sounds of bombing to such an extent that they no longer reacted to them” – Anastasia Hasanova.