Australian Open 2024: Elina Svitolina column on Ukraine's fight against Russian invasion

In her latest BBC Sport column at the Australian Open, Wimbledon semi-finalist and WTA star Elina Svitolina says many Ukrainians feel people have lost interest in their ongoing battle to repel the Russian invasion.

Ukraine was invaded by Russia almost two years ago. It feels like it has been 10 years.

Missiles and drones are targeting our country on a daily basis. It is non-stop.

The war is still happening and we don't want the world to forget that.

At the start of every day I pick up my phone, check messages from my friends back home and read Telegram channels that we have created especially for the news.

Friends of mine are fighting on the frontline, fighting every single day for our territory and for our freedom.

The New Year started with heavy attacks on some of our major cities - including my hometown Odesa.

My grandma, who is in her mid-80s, is still there. She refused to leave the city.

She lives on the 13th floor of an apartment block and has to walk up the stairs every day because she is scared to get stuck in the elevator in case of a power outage caused by an attack.

My uncle and his family are there, as well as a lot of friends. I also still have a lot of friends in Kyiv and Kharkiv, where I trained as a teenager.

These cities are constantly under attack.

In the new year, Ukraine came under some of the heaviest aerial bombardment since Russia's war began in February 2022

A lot of people are in very dangerous places where missiles are coming down every day and landing in Ukrainian territory.

Unfortunately, people in Ukraine are used to this now.

They are used to hearing alarms throughout the night.

They are used to hours and hours without sleeping at night.

They are trying to sleep in the parking lot underneath their buildings because they want to go to work the next morning.

They need to go to work because they are helping their family members who are fighting.

They need to work because they need to eat. They need money to feed their children.

People are living in stress every single day because of the missiles. It is extremely disturbing and damaging, and I fear for the long-term effects on the younger generation.

For Ukrainians it feels like everyone on the outside is starting to forget about our country.

Two weeks ago, for example, hundreds of missiles landed in Ukraine and it seemed like only one or two media channels spoke about it.

It was one of the worst days since the beginning of the invasion.

People across the world are stopping talking about what is happening and are not as aware about what is going on.

In tennis, there are people who want to help and we have held events at WTA tournaments in Charleston and Indian Wells. There was also the one we did in Poland with the huge help of Iga Swiatek to raise awareness and funding.

But it feels like people are trying to not get involved as much any more and everyone is minding their own business.

Of course there are other wars happening in the world - they should be talked about too - but feeling forgotten is still very, very sad for us.

It hurts a lot and it is tough for us to understand.

Sport stars feel responsibility to use our platforms

Representing Ukraine on the court every single week, I try to use tennis as my platform to speak out, tell people what's still going on and describe the help we need.

As a high-profile Ukrainian athlete I feel it is my mission to help Ukraine and the Ukrainians who are in need - whether that is the rebuilding of homes, medical needs or helping young sports talent.

I want this responsibility. It motivates me to wake up every morning and do something which is useful for Ukrainian people.

For example, Alexandr Dolgopolov - the former world number 13 who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2011 - is fighting on the frontline and tells me what equipment they need in his unit.

Once, they quickly needed a car because it was essential to transfer people to the hospital, so I used my connections, the help of my foundation and donated my own money to help them.

That is a situation where I can be useful for people in need and I'm always happy to raise money.

Of course, we have politicians and some things I cannot change or control.

Last year Svitolina met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and is an ambassador of the United24 platform which he set up to raise funds for the country's rebuilding programme

But I try to do what I can within my power along with other sports people, such as Ukraine football legend Andriy Shevchenko, Premier League players Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mykhailo Mudryk and boxer Oleksandr Usyk.

We are a small group of the athletes who are representing Ukraine on the world stage and have a big platform to use.

I'm here in Australia now but I always need to be aware of what is going on back home and what I can do to help.

For people on the outside it might seem that it is difficult to get the balance right between focusing on what is happening back home and on a Grand Slam tournament.

It's not. I have to be on top of this - even when I'm playing so far away from home.

My foundation is based in Ukraine so I get information from the team about how we can help some of the people that are in difficult situations.

This continues to be the everyday lives of Ukrainians. Nothing has changed for us.

Elina Svitolina was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Melbourne Park.