Daria Kasatkina admits she sees no end to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine amid recent turmoil in her own country over the weekend.
The Russian No.1 said she feared for the safety of her friends and family back home during the march of Wagner’s mercenary force towards Moscow on Saturday. The group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied that he was staging a coup and instead said that the war in Ukraine was built on lies and called for the “evil” of Russian military leadership to be stopped. In response, Moscow launched an ‘anti-terrorist’ operation in the city with some fearing the worst before a deal was struck by the president of Belarus to end the march.
It is rare to see such an activity take place on Russian soil. Speaking about the situation following her first round win in Eastbourne, Kasatkina described it as ‘a big mess’ before adding that this situation in Ukraine is far worse. She is one of the few athletes from her country to speak out against the war in public.
“My family, my parents are still in Russia,” The Telegraph quoted Kasatkina as telling reporters on Monday. “As you can see, the last few days it’s been a big mess there.”
“Of course I’m worried,” she added. “I’m worried for my friends, because my best friends, they actually live in Voronezh. It was like the guy with the private army. And Voronezh was one of the cities where they entered.
“So I was pretty worried about that, because they [her friends] were very scared. So was I. I couldn’t do anything except to offer them to go to my city, because it’s more far [from the epicentre of Prighozin’s short-lived mutiny] so was not involved in the situation.
“The Ukrainians, they are experiencing way worse situation, but also, I can feel the same. I’m very worried for the people I love. Unfortunately we have to live in this scenario now. This is part of our lives. It’s been a tough year, and we don’t know how long it’s going to be.”
The 26-year-old has previously expressed concerns about returning home after coming out as gay last year. In recent months her country passed a law banning the promotion of what it describes as LGBT propaganda among adults. Those who violate the law could face a fine or even prison. Kasatkina is currently based in Dubai with her partner Natalia Zabiiako.
In Eastbourne Kasatkina’s first match saw her beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-1, with relative ease. After their match, the Ukranian refused to shake her hand due to the ongoing conflict. Something that has happened for months on the Tour when players from the two countries face each other.
Due to the tense political climate, Kasatkina says tennis provides her with a sense of escapism from everything that is happening. So far this season she has reached the final of the Adelaide International, semi-finals of the Charleston and the fourth round of the French Open.
“When I’m on the court, I’m not thinking about it,” she said.
“I am in the different state of mind, which actually helps me to turn off from all this.
“Since the beginning of the war, I was actually following everything every day. It’s a lot.
“I was overwhelmed in some moments, and I’m just trying to turn off my head at least on the tennis court. It helps me a lot.
“I’m really glad to be back and to have this opportunity to play the tournaments, Wimbledon included.”
Kaskatkina, who is currently ranked 11th in the world, will next play former Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova in the second round in Eastbourne.
