Ukrainian gymnast Sofila Krainska boycotted the russian anthem during the award ceremony at the 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Varna, Bulgaria.

As the russian anthem began to play, Sofila put on headphones and covered her face with her hands.

First, I want to commend this young Ukrainian athlete.

Well done, Sofila.

You showed more courage and moral clarity in that moment than all international sports officials have shown in years.

Second, let me say how absolutely disgusting this whole spectacle is.

A Ukrainian athlete, whose country is being bombed every day, whose people are being killed, tortured, kidnapped, and driven from their homes, is forced to stand on a podium and listen to the anthem of the state responsible for those crimes.

Think about how insane that is.

Russian missiles are hitting Ukrainian cities at this very moment. Ukrainian children are sleeping in bomb shelters. Entire towns have been wiped off the map. Yet the world expects Ukrainians to politely stand there while the anthem of the aggressor state echoes through the arena.

It is sick.

There is something profoundly rotten about a system that asks the victims of a brutal invasion to smile, clap, and pretend everything is normal while honoring representatives of the country destroying their homeland.

And then people wonder why Ukrainians are angry.

If watching a Ukrainian athlete endure that humiliation while her country burns does not make you feel physically sick, I honestly don’t know what will.