Copyright kyivpost
On Oct. 31, the Ukrainian tennis champion Elina Svitolina, 31, visited her native city of Odesa and attended a charity event at the of Dzhan Niche Concept flagship store to raise funds for her Elina Svitolina Foundation. She lives most of her time abroad and travels constantly to attend the major tennis competitions. But since the beginning of the full-scale invasion she has been supporting Ukraine with fund raising. Kyiv Post asked her some questions about her relations with her city and how she became a symbol of support of Ukraine. Elina Svitolina, you are from Odesa and are the pride of this city. How important was the city in making you the person you are today? Well, it’s the city where I was born. So, of course, you know, it’s a very special city for me. I grew up here until the age of 12, and afterwards I came back here, each month, each year to recharge. This is the city where I feel at home. My grandmother is here, my parents are here. For me, it’s important to visit my family and to go back to my roots. So, of course, Odesa is very special place for me. How do you see the city changing, when you come back regularly? It’s a very different city to what it was before. When I was growing up, I had such a fun and enjoyable time. Odesa now has a very different atmosphere, a very different energy. But still, when I come back here, I feel this is the place where I can take the energy, where I can recharge and go again with my busy life. I love the city. I love the vibes of Odesa. The Black Sea. I have great memories here of growing up and being with my family. Everybody knows that you are supporting Ukraine through your activity. Can you tell us about something that that you’ve done for Ukraine, something that makes you proud? Well, I cannot pick one thing because I support many initiatives. I’m the ambassador for the President of Ukraine’s United 24 and for Bring Kids Back UA. I support different battalions and, you know, there are many, many things that I do and I try to do and as a Ukrainian. I also represent my country on such a big stage as tennis. I think it’s also very important to talk about what’s going on in Ukraine, use the platform, try to raise the awareness. I have my Svitolina Foundation, through which I raise money and help kids discover sport. Every initiative, everything that I do helps me expresses myself as a Ukrainian and try to bring all possible support to my country. How was your activity an athlete affected? Did you get more energy for achieving your results due to the situation of the war? Do you feel that you represent Ukraine much more than in the past? Yes, definitely. It brought up a lot of emotions in me and of course, I’m prouder to represent a country that is fighting for its freedom, that is standing strong. And I think it’s tragic. But at the same time, people of the world start to know what Ukraine is, what its culture is. And I’m very proud of that. We stand as free people, we stand for our freedom, we fight for what is ours. And I think the unbreakable spirit is the big highlight of Ukrainians. Ukraine is changing due to this war. What changes do you want to see in Odesa and in Ukraine in the future? Firstly, peace is going to come one day, but we need to be prepared for that. Of course, we have to rebuild and restore. A lot of things have been destroyed in Odesa, and stopped in development. So I think it’s important for everybody to slowly come back to their normal life and try the best for the city to prosper and to move forward. I think a lot of people are living with the fear of tomorrow. And of course, one day when the peace comes, it’s going to be a big relief for the people. And I think for not only for Odesa, but for the rest of Ukraine, we’ll have to work for years on renovation, building, and demining. Ukraine, it’s such a big country and there are so many territories that are still mined. So, it’s a lot of work that Ukraine will have to do and, hopefully, with our foreign partners abroad, with their support, we can do that a bit quicker.
