Scoopfeeds — Intelligent news, curated.
Ukrainian makes impassioned speech after facing Russian
sports

Ukrainian makes impassioned speech after facing Russian

BBC Sport · May 30, 2026, 5:01 PM · Also reported by 3 other sources

Key takeaways

  • Russia's Diana Shnaider and Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova were playing against each other for the first time
  • Oliynykova, 25, played Russia's Diana Shnaider in the French Open third round on Saturday and spoke negatively about her opponent before the match.
  • After losing 7-5 6-1 in Paris, an emotional Oliynykova started her news conference by reading out a strongly worded prepared statement from her phone.

Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.

Russia's Diana Shnaider and Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova were playing against each other for the first time

BBC Sport tennis news reporter Published1 hour ago Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova says she cannot "stay silent" while "people are being killed" as she continued to heavily criticise Russian tennis players for not denouncing the war in her country.

Oliynykova, 25, played Russia's Diana Shnaider in the French Open third round on Saturday and spoke negatively about her opponent before the match.

Article preview — originally published by BBC Sport. Full story at the source.
Read full story on BBC Sport → More top stories

Also covered by

Aggregated and edited by the Scoop newsroom. We surface news from BBC Sport alongside other reporting so you can compare coverage in one place. Editorial policy · Corrections · About Scoop