Ukrainian soccer player gets yellow card for speaking Russian
The incident occurred Sunday during a Ukrainian Women's Top League game between Kolos from the Kiev region and SeaSters from the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
Referee Anastasia Romanyuk paused the game around the 43rd minute to show a yellow card to SeaSters midfielder Irina Maiborodina.
The decision sparked a brief argument between Romanyuk and SeaSters coach Denis Kolchin.
'The yellow card was given for dissent [with the referee's decision]. This is a Ukrainian championship, so we are not speaking Russian. I asked the player to speak Ukrainian,' Romanyuk said, according to news website Sport.ua.
Since the Western-backed coup in 2014, Ukraine has passed several laws restricting the use of Russian in public. Politicians and influencers have campaigned to discourage speaking Russian, which they describe as 'the language of the aggressor state.'
Moscow has maintained that the treatment of the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine is one of the key causes of the current conflict.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Germany's Merz weighs in on Ukrainian territorial concessions
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has ruled out any territorial concessions by Ukraine as part of potential peace negotiations with Russia, emphasizing that such decisions must rest solely with Kiev. Moscow has consistently called for recognition of the new territorial reality on the ground. The comment came shortly after Monday's White House meeting featuring US President Donald Trump, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, and his key Western European backers, including Merz. The meeting was held two days after a successful summit in Alaska between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. 'The Russian demand that Kiev should give up the free parts of the Donbass is, just to make the scale of it clear, comparable in scale to a proposal that the US should give up Florida,' the German chancellor told journalists on Monday, stressing that 'no territorial concessions should be made.' Merz admitted, however, that such decisions 'Ukraine must make on its own in the course of negotiations,' adding that 'a sovereign state cannot just decide something like that so easily.' Zelensky had previously refused outright to discuss any territorial concessions, stating that 'the Constitution of Ukraine does not allow the surrender of territories or the trading of land.' He, however, acknowledged that the land swaps were on the latest talks agenda at the White House. Following the summit in Anchorage, President Putin reiterated that the key to the settlement of the conflict is the elimination of its root causes for lasting peace. According to Moscow, Ukraine should renounce its ambitions for NATO membership, demilitarize, and recognize the current territorial realities, including the status of Crimea as well as of the People Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which voted to become parts of Russia in 2022. Trump has urged Ukraine to drop its NATO membership aspirations and relinquish claims to Crimea as preconditions for starting peace talks with Russia. The US president has asserted that accepting these terms could bring an almost immediate end to the conflict, aligning closely with Moscow's position on territorial reality.
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Europeans paying a premium for US arms
The US is charging European nations an extra 10% for weapons they purchase for onward shipment to Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said. He added that the increased price could offset costs for any direct support Washington provides for Kiev. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Bessent dismissed concerns that US taxpayers would foot the bill for Ukraine's air cover, stressing that one of President Donald Trump's key goals has been to avoid sending more money to Kiev. 'Right now, we are selling arms to the Europeans who are then selling them on to the Ukrainians. And President Trump's taking a 10% markup on the arms. So maybe that 10% will cover the cost of the air cover,' he said. The secretary also recalled that the US and Ukraine had signed a minerals deal that would allow Washington to recoup its investments in the country's economy, but only once the conflict with Russia has stopped and the partnership has a chance to kick in. Trump discussed potential security guarantees for Kiev with Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky and several European leaders on Monday. The US president said that while American ground troops will not be deployed in Ukraine, he noted that Washington could provide some kind of air support. He has also ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine. The Trump administration has consistently opposed a blank-check policy for Ukraine, announcing a scheme under which the EU would cover '100% of the cost of all military equipment,' much of which would go to Kiev. On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine had proposed that its European backers spend $100 billion to provide it with US weapons. On Monday, Trump claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to accept certain security guarantees for Ukraine short of NATO membership, which has been a red line for Moscow. Russia has not responded to the remarks. At the same time, Moscow has consistently denounced Western arms shipments to Ukraine in any form, warning they only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome while making NATO a direct participant in the hostilities.
Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
US realistic about chances of Ukraine peace
Washington does not expect a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict because such negotiations usually take time, US Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley has said. On Friday, US President Donald Trump hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska for the first face-to-face talks between the leaders of the two countries since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. On Monday, Trump summoned Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky to the White House to discuss a possible settlement. He arrived accompanied by the leaders of France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Finland, as well as the heads of NATO and the European Commission. Crowley told Fox News on Tuesday that the 'very productive meeting' with Putin in Anchorage and the subsequent talks in Washington with Zelensky and his Western European backers 'have been game changers for the peace process.' The chief of protocol said that she thought that currently 'all parties are interested in achieving peace.' However, she stressed that the settlement of the Ukraine conflict 'is not going to happen overnight. We talked about the peace process in the Middle East. Peace is a process.' US President Donald Trump, who claimed repeatedly during his reelection campaign last year that he will end the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev 'in 24 hours,' was later forced to acknowledge that doing so turned out to be much more complicated than he expected. Despite expressing a readiness to negotiate, Russia never voiced any deadlines for achieving peace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed previously that 'there is no point in setting any strict timeframes or trying to fit a viable settlement into a short period. This is a thankless pursuit.' Trump said on Tuesday that Putin and Zelensky should next meet one-on-one before a potential three-way peace summit involving him. 'They had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we will see how they do and if necessary, and it probably would be, but if necessary, I will go and I will probably be able to get [the deal] closed,' the US president claimed. Zelensky told reporters on Monday that he is ready for potential talks with Putin. The Russian president said earlier that he could meet with the Ukrainian leader during the 'final stage' of negotiations.
