"Most Russian players publicly assert their neutrality but the opposite is true” - Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska laments WTA inaction amidst war

Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska slammed Russian tennis players and Mirra Andreeva especially, calling out their alleged "neutrality" about the ongoing war.

The 23-year-old Yastremska recently made headlines after it was revealed that she reported 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva for liking a pro-Vladimir Putin post on social media.

In an interview with journalist Dominik Senkowski, Yastremska talked about Andreeva's behavior, calling out not only her but other Russian players as well.

"Before our match in Lausanne, I went on Instagram to look at some photos and saw that Mirra liked that posts. This was not a surprise, because most Russian tennis players do the same. They publicly assert their neutrality, but in fact, the opposite is true," Yastremska said.

The Ukrainian also talked about reporting the Russian teenager to the WTA, with the organization not taking any action against Andreeva.

"I went to the WTA in Switzerland and told about it. I have not received any reason for their decision. They said 'There's nothing we can do'. I told them it wasn't fair," Yastremska added.

The World No. 149 claimed that it wasn't the first time someone from Ukraine showed the WTA something similar to Andreeva's behavior, only to be met with inaction from the women's tennis body.

"I was surprised by the decision of WTA, but on the other hand, it's not the first time Ukrainian players showed WTA, what is happening. We have repeatedly reported similar behavior of players from Russia on social media. We suggested penalties for them, but nothing changes," Yastremska underlined.

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Dayana Yastremska: "We can't do anything about players from Russia and Belarus"

Dayana Yastremska at the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier - Ukraine v Czech Republic

Dayana Yastremska also talked about Russian and Belarusian players on tour and what relationship she has with them during the war.

Ukrainian tennis players have chosen not to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian colleagues since the war in Ukraine started, which has often caused controversy.

After criticizing Mirra Andreeva for supposedly liking pro-Putin posts on social media, the 23-year-old from Odessa praised Daria Kasatkina.

"She openly presented her opinion on the war, for which she deserves respect. We say 'hello' to each other, but we don't talk beyond that. She is one of the few who had 'eggs' to speak out," Yastremska told journalist Dominik Senkowski in an interview.

The former World No. 21 proclaimed that she supports excluding players from the aforementioned countries from tennis altogether, similar to the stance a few other sports have taken.

"We can't do anything about players from Russia and Belarus. We have no way to exclude them from the tour. In many sports players from these countries are not allowed to compete. Our goal has always been to push WTA to make a similar decision," Dayana Yastremska stated.