Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has issued an international appeal for assistance in stopping Russian aggression and supporting Ukrainian athletes following an overnight Russian strike on September 8, 2026, that damaged her recently opened sports club in Kyiv.
Svitolina established the venue, SVITO Padel Club, in May 2026 located in Kyiv’s Podil district, alongside retired professional tennis player and Ukrainian military volunteer Serhii Stakhovsky. The club sustained damage from a blast wave caused by a nearby hit, though no injuries were reported because the attack occurred at night.
In her social media appeal, Svitolina highlighted the broader toll of the full-scale invasion on Ukrainian sports. Since the war began, 776 Ukrainian athletes and sports officials have been killed, and 942 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed. She emphasized that the ongoing conflict prevents Ukrainian athletes and the younger generation from training and preparing for international competitions on equal terms with peers from other nations. Svitolina urged international partners and friends to raise awareness, show support, and take concrete actions to help stop the aggressor.
The attack on the sports club was part of a larger wave of violence. On the same day, a Russian Shahed drone struck the Kyiv offices of the television channel “My – Ukraine,” hitting the newsroom during a live broadcast. This attack partially destroyed the building, sparked a fire, and injured five staff members. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the media strike as a deliberate assault, which followed an overnight missile and drone barrage against the capital that resulted in two deaths and at least 10 injuries.
