Ukraine’s team at the Winter Olympics in Sochi said on Wednesday said they were shocked by the violence rocking the country and vowed to do everything to bring back medals for their nation.
The team, in a joint statement published on the website of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee called for dialogue to end the violence that has already left at least 25 dead.
Ukraine’s Olympic Committee is headed by the former Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka who is one of his country’s best known figures.
The team called for a “dialogue to listen to each other and prevent further bloodshed,” it added.
Bubka added in his own personal statement: “For the sake of the future of our kids let’s do everything possible to get back to negotiations and make a compromise.”
The Ukrainian Olympic Committee said that the Ukrainian delegation at the Games led by Bubka had asked the International Olympic Committee if their athletes could wear black bands in competition to remember the dead.
However it said that the IOC had rejected the request, in line with the Olympic charter on athletes’ clothing.