Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday praised athletes from his war-battered country for their preparations to compete at the Paris Olympics despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv says it is fielding its smallest-ever Olympic team at any summer Games this year as a result of Russia’s invasion, now in its third year.
“We are proud of our team — the men and women who, despite this war of aggression, managed to prepare for the Olympics and show the spirit of all Ukrainians,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
“They have our will to win and Ukrainian character,” he added.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, wrote on social media Friday that the war in Ukraine had left 487 Ukrainian athletes dead.
Despite heavily disrupted preparations, with some athletes leaving Ukraine, others being killed and training facilities destroyed since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, Ukraine is still sending a 143-strong team to Paris.
