"Very difficult day" - Ukraine's Elina Svitolina fights back tears after reaching Wimbledon QF hours after Russian missile attack kills 30+ back home

Elina Svitolina showed her support for her country Ukraine at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships after defeating Wang Xinyu. Following a missile attack in her homeland that killed nearly 30 people and left 112 wounded, she wore a black ribbon to express her grief publicly while navigating to the quarterfinals of the London Major.

A missile hit a children's hospital in Kyiv (the country's capital) on Monday (July 8), trapping victims under the debris. Volunteers, doctors, and rescue workers urgently searched through the ruins of the Okhmatdyt National Children's Specialized Hospital, looking for survivors after the unusual daytime attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian forces launched over 40 missiles at five cities, focusing on the southern and eastern regions of the country, as well as Kyiv.

Svitolina is a vocal critic of Russia's actions and has consistently refused to shake hands with players from Russia and its key ally, Belarus, who have not condemned the war. She reaffirmed her support once again during her fourth-round match against Wang at Wimbledon, which she won 6-2, 6-1, by wearing a black ribbon.

During her on-court interview, Elina Svitolina fought back tears as she shared that, while the victory was significant to her, staying focused on such a difficult day was challenging for her and all Ukrainians

"For sure, it was a good performance from my side today. It’s a very difficult day for Ukrainian people," the World No. 21 said.

"It was not easy to focus today on the match. Since the morning, it was difficult to read the news. To go on the court is extremely is tough. I’m happy I could play today and get a win," she added.

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Elina Svitolina "sad" over media's lack of focus on horrors of Russia-Ukraine war

Elina Svitolina

During a press conference at the French Open in May, Elina Svitolina lamented that the media seemed to overlook the horrors of the Russia-Ukraine war. She noted that it was "sad" because many of her friends and acquaintances were on the front lines and had tragically lost their lives.

"It is very sad for my country," Svitolina said. "You know, I’m representing Ukraine, it’s the country that I’m from, I love my people and of course, it’s sad because I know so many of my friends and people that I know are in the front line and losing their lives in this horrible war."

The 29-year-old added:

"Very sad topic because people and media are not talking about it anymore, of course, there is other wars happenings, other things happening but it’s very sad as I say because I’ve close friends and people that I speak on a daily basis that are fighting right now."