Ukrainian-born swimmer Viktoria Solntseva, who now represents Turkey under the name Viktoria Gunes caused uproar after stepping on the Russian flag to show her protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The athlete, who competed under the Turkish flag at the last Tokyo Olympics, had to leave Crimea in 2014 for Turkey after the Russian occupation.

Her latest gesture in one of her Instagram stories, where she is seen stepping on the Russian flag, caused a storm of responses. The Minister of Sports of Russia Dmitry Shvishev sharply condemned the act: “It’s really disgusting.” Shvishev called on the International Swimming Federation (FINA) to start an investigation into the case and demanded that the swimmer be punished.

 

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“It’s really disgusting. I would like to believe that the International Swimming Federation, as well as other specialized organizations, will punish the swimmer for such behavior. Our athletes were punished for their attitude, and here we have a real outpouring of nationalism. In relation to the country. Such provocations must be punished regardless of the country to which they are directed and the country represented by the athlete doing so. I think that our union should apply to FINA with a request to investigate this case in detail,” Shvyshev said.

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