Elina Svitolina talks about her grandmother's life under daily air raid alerts in Odesa

Ukraine's top tennis player, Elina Svitolina, spoke about her relatives who live in Odesa, which is often a target for Russian drone and missile strikes, in an interview with BBC on Feb. 22.

According to Elina, her grandmother often calls her to feel calmer, since she is surrounded by the sounds of air raids and missiles.

Read also: Svitolina becomes 3rd Ukrainian to reach Australian Open third round, could win it all – Stakhovsky

"Yes, it's terrible. It's really terrible,” said Svitolina.

“My uncle and his family are there. My grandmother is still there, we have very close relationships… It's very hard to watch the news every day. I try to talk to her and keep her spirits up. She likes to talk to us, just to feel better even for a moment. Every day there is an alarm, rockets are flying, all these sounds surround her, so she wants to see my family, to see normal life.”

“I can't even imagine how difficult it is for her psychologically," Svitolina added.

Read also: Four Ukrainian tennis players enter the top 30 of world rankings

Earlier, Elina Svitolina told what has changed in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.

The legendary Sergiy Stakhovsky, former pro tennis player and current serviceman in Ukrainian Armed Forces also recalled the first words he wrote on the day of Russian attack on Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine