Ukrainian Judoka Daria Bilodid shows support for her country

Benny A. King

The celebrity athlete from Ukraine has gone on her social media to support her home country.

Bilodid is somewhat of a social media star, having more than half a million followers on her Instagram page, many attribute her success due to her looks, but Bilodid is also one of the nation’s most accomplished athletes.

Bilodid was nominated athlete of the year in Ukraine in 2019, and holds titles of European champion, World champion, and Olympic bronze medalist in Judo.

Even before the conflict started, Bilodid tweeted a post that she wishes to live in peace, without the threat of war. In Ukrainian, she wrote:

I love my country, this is my home, my homeland! And I want to live in peace, without war and constant threats.

As a Ukrainian native, Bilodid heavily opposes the Russian invasion of her nation. AS soon as the conflict started, the judoka went on her Twitter to repudiate Russia’s actions.

“Today I woke up at 6 am from the shootings in Kyiv, I have no words, I am very afraid and I pray for my family and my country. Russia started bombing us, the war started. Why? Why ruin people’s lives? Russia and Belarus, stop! We want peace, we want to live!” Said the Judo star in a tweet.

On the seventh day of the conflict, Bilodid shared another tweet where she lamented the attacks from the Russian army in Kharkiv, one of the largest cities in Ukraine. In the video, a building is seen on fire after being bombed, and the judoka writes:

“Russian army destroys my country, my people, my cities… We will never forgive it”.

Sadly, the war between Russia and Ukraine has not seen an end, at least for now. Peace talks were taken between the two leaders Zelenski and Putin, but no immediate breakthrough.

According to the Kyiv Independent, a new round of talks are to be taken on March 3rd, in Belarus, near the Polish border.

  1. Here’s a video of Daria Training with Beleniuk Zhan, Greco Roman Olympic Gold Medalist and also Memeber of Ukraine Parliment