The joint shot of Maria Lasitskene and Yaroslava Maguchikh after the end of the high jump competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo was not liked by everyone in Ukraine.

Rude comments began to appear on the social media of the Olympic winner.

Yaroslava, in particular, was accused of being the first to approach the Russian woman and expressing a desire to "hug" the killer.

“Your behavior is interesting, if, God forbid, the Russians killed one of your relatives or loved ones, how would you behave?” - wrote one of the users.

The well-known Ukrainian public and political figure Serhiy Sternenko also supported the persecution.

On his Facebook page, he posted a post in which he recalled that Maguchikh is a junior sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Lasitskene is a captain of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

“Maria’s colleagues are killing Yaroslava’s colleagues, but it seems she doesn’t care.

In the same way, they are not embarrassed by the fact that Lasitskene is a confidant of Vladimir Putin, ”Sternenko wrote.

Deputy Head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar also promised on Facebook to hold a conversation with the athlete upon her return from Tokyo.

According to her, "the ongoing war ... imposes certain restrictions and responsibilities." 

“At the same time, I ask you to stop persecuting Yaroslava until we hear her own explanation.

Yaroslava Maguchikh is currently in Tokyo.

Immediately after her return, I have scheduled a meeting with her.

I will inform you about the results of the conversation, ”Malyar noted.

In turn, the official representative of the ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the enemies of Ukraine those who "began to persecute their own athlete."

“And in the Ukrainian defense department they said that such photographs could become“ the object of informational special operations of the enemy ”... And our athletes show a world class, demonstrating pure sport without politics and intrigue,” Zakharova wrote in Telegram.

However, even in Ukraine, not everyone supported the persecution of the Maguchikhs.

So, Boris Filatov, the mayor of Dnipro, where the jumper lives, stressed that the “couch patriots” have done for the country a thousand times less than Yaroslav.

“Embittered, empty, meaningless.

Fighting for freedom and independence, as a rule, in words, not in deeds.

People who notice a speck in someone else's eye, but do not see a log in their own.

Yaroslava, our girl, hometown will not give you offense to anyone.

You can always count on both me and my Marina, the head of the athletics federation, who raised such a star.

No not like this.

A star.

Precisely with a capital letter, "Filatov promised.

The girl was also supported by another bronze medalist of the Olympic Games-2020 from Ukraine karate Stanislav Goruna.

He published a rather harsh post in which he urged not to mix sports with politics.

“The Olympics are the quintessence of sport.

The Olympics are all about friendship, unity and respect regardless of anything.

The Olympics proves to everyone unequivocally that sport is outside of politics.

There is no politics at the Olympics.

There is a sports spirit and healthy competition.

A little more business, ”Goruna emphasized.

He also saw nothing terrible in a joint photo with Lasitskene.

In his opinion, the colleague thus only paid tribute to the rival. 

“The pedestal is a unique and exclusive place of respect that brings successful athletes together in the moment through their self-improvement and performance.

No more, no less.

There is no “betrayal” in the photo of the Maguchikhs from Lasitskene, ”Goruna added.

Finally, the local party "Opposition Platform - For Life" made a special statement on the current situation.

It notes that the persecution of the Maguchikhs "testifies to xenophobia, Russophobia and extreme politicization of all areas of public life."

“The current government does not have any real achievements of its own and consists of the overwhelming majority of people whose careers and successes are built on parodying, criticizing or inciting hatred towards those who are really specialists in their field, have achieved significant success in the development of Ukraine, economic potential and improving the image, ”the party said in a statement.

Honored domestic athletes also supported the Maguchikhs.

So, the Olympic champion in speed skating and State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova considers her hugs with Lasitskene to be "absolutely normal" behavior for sports.

“It’s right that the girls are nearby.

They fought with each other quite seriously ... It was interesting to watch, and after that, as befits two athletes, they hugged each other, congratulated each other and stood next to the flags.

Absolutely normal, humanly correct attitude.

What did Masha do to Yaroslav or Ukraine?

This is generally about something else.

And if people mix everything up, it hurts and scares me, ”Ren-TV quotes Zhurova.

In turn, the two-time Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics Svetlana Khorkina called the people who organized the persecution of the athlete in Ukraine “narrow-minded” and stressed that there should be no place for politics in this situation.

“Let in international arenas we decide who is stronger, who is weaker, whose skill level is higher, who is more professional.

I really don't want sports to be confused with politics.

After all, sport has no boundaries, there are only boundaries of human capabilities, ”Khorkina said.

Finally, the famous journalist Vladimir Solovyov suggested that the Maguchikhs move to Russia and play for our country.

“Anything can be in Ukraine now.

At the level of personal harassment, it has already begun, ”the Ura.ru journalist quoted as saying.

The women's high jump competition has become one of the brightest and most memorable at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The main rival of Lasitskene in this form was the rising star Maguchikh.

As a result, the Russian woman won, showing the result of 2.04, and the young Ukrainian, breaking the bar at around 2.02, won bronze.

After the end of the tournament, the athletes congratulated each other and took pictures with flags.

If Maguchikh held the banner of her country in her hands, then Lasitskene held the Russian Olympic Committee.