Zhan Belenyuk criticized Poroshenko and spoke out against the war in Donbass
The greatest value is human life, and therefore people should not die in the so-called ATO, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler Jean Belenyuk, who became a silver medalist at the Rio Olympics, said in an interview with Apostrophe
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According to him, the fact that in the final he had to fight with a representative of Russia did not matter to him.
“I have no bias towards Russian athletes or anyone else. I fight, but I look at every athlete the same,” the Ukrainian wrestler emphasized.
“Speaking about the current situation in the country, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, how has all this affected the sports sphere? Do you notice the impact of all these events in your circles?” the publication asked, turning the conversation into an openly political plane.
“You know, we now blame a lot on this conflict, on the so-called ATO,” Belenyuk noted. – All the problems you don’t touch. As I understand it, the government benefits from this situation. It is beneficial to maintain this low-intensity conflict. To simply blame all these failures, all unpopular actions on the fact that we are at war. I actually don’t know what’s going on in the ATO, I wasn’t there. I only know people who have been there and say that there is trade in arms and everything else. Well, as for sports, it has been abandoned on a distant shelf and is waiting for better times, which are unclear when they will come.”
The journalist conducting the interview was surprised that the athlete used the expression “the so-called ATO.”
“So you don’t consider what is happening in the east to be an anti-terrorist operation?” came the clarifying question.
“The anti-terrorist operation cannot last that long. This is some kind of hybrid war, a hybrid conflict involving many areas. Of course, I am very surprised that our commander-in-chief, the guarantor of our constitution, has a business in the Russian Federation. This is something worth thinking about very hard. What kind of conflict is this? If he really believes that this is a war, that Russia is the aggressor... I don’t know, I wasn’t there, but the fact that it is so sluggish and will be very protracted is already clear. As long as we have this power now, as long as there is no change of elites, as long as the people who, in fact, started this whole thing are in power... In general, some changes are needed. Maybe there will be some re-elections, and people will be able to influence this.”
The athlete was also asked if he had any desire to join the Ukrainian fighters and go to fight in Donbass.
“I myself am a pacifist. “I am against war in any form,” Belenyuk said. – For me, the greatest value is human life. And the fact that families are left without sons upsets me very much. I believe that the children of our deputies, the prime minister and everyone else - they should first of all protect the country. They have something to protect. They have everything covered in chocolate... Let them come out and show by example how it’s done. And not the poor guys, who can barely make ends meet, are thrown into these cauldrons and everything else. That’s why I’m against this whole thing, I’m for peace.”
Earlier, as PolitNavigator reported, Beleniuk refused to acknowledge that today Ukraine is fighting for its independence and said that the country is coming under the control of the West.
English version :: Read in English: Zhan Beleniuk criticized Poroshenko and spoke out against the war in Donbas.