From the BBC:
“Ukraine's Euro 2020 football
kit provokes outrage in Russia”
(Ukraine's shirt, emblazoned with
its borders including Russian-annexed Crimea)
A new kit for Ukraine's football
team, showing a map including Russian-annexed Crimea, has provoked anger in
Moscow. Ukraine unveiled its shirt for Euro 2020, emblazoned with its borders
including Crimea and the slogan "Glory to Ukraine!" Russia annexed
the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and considers it a part of its
territory, something rejected internationally. A Russian MP called it a
"political provocation". In a statement to the BBC, European
football's governing body Uefa said: "The shirt of the Ukrainian national
team (and of all other teams) for Uefa Euro 2020 has been approved by Uefa, in
accordance with the applicable equipment regulations." The head of the
Ukrainian football association, Andriy Pavelko, revealed the kit in a video on
his Facebook page on Sunday, days before the European Championship kicks off. The
front of the yellow shirt shows the contours of Ukraine in white, including
Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and
Luhansk. A slogan on the back reads "Glory to Ukraine!" - a patriotic
chant used as a rallying cry by protesters who forced out a pro-Moscow
president, Viktor Yanukovych, in 2014. "We believe that Ukraine's
silhouette will give strength to the players because they will fight for all of
Ukraine," Mr Pavelko said. Another slogan - "Glory to the
heroes!" - is stitched on the inside of the shirt collar. Both it and
"Glory to Ukraine!" are used as official military greetings in
Ukraine. The US embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, tweeted "love the new
look", with a photo of the new kit. But Russian foreign ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the kits, saying the football team had
"attached Ukraine's territory to Russia's Crimea", creating the
"illusion of the impossible". She said the slogan was nationalistic
and echoed a Nazi rallying cry. Russian MP Dmitry Svishchev called the shirt
"totally inappropriate" and urged Uefa to take action. The
tournament, postponed due to Covid-19, will run from 11 June to 11 July across
11 host cities, including Russia's Saint Petersburg, which hosts a
quarter-final.
^ Russia just has to start
accepting the fact that Crimea and Donbas are legally and Internationally-recognized
as Ukrainian even if Russia has illegally invaded and annexed Crimea since 2014
and has been fighting in Donbas (also since 2014.) Russia is not the victim
here – and usually isn’t. This shirt is just stating a fact. ^
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