Biathlete Lesser leaves his Instagram account to a Ukrainian colleague
“Someone has to stay here to help”
The Russian army continues its bombing raids around Kyiv. Many people are fleeing, but “someone has to stay here to provide help,” explains Svitlana Kolesnyk from Ukraine. In an interview with WELT, she describes how the city’s residents support each other.
Biathlete Erik Lesser has many Russian followers on Instagram. The 33-year-old uses his popularity to draw attention to the atrocities of the war in Ukraine – with a clever trick.
Et was one of his last World Cup races, but biathlete Erik Lesser didn’t really want to think about the sport in Kontiolahti, Finland. The images of the war in Ukraine are too present and terrible. “We’re all symbolically running around here with blue and yellow signs, but that doesn’t really help the local people. I still have to think of something where I can really help directly as an individual,” said Lesser on ZDF.
Erik Lesser gave his Instagram account to a Ukrainian biathlete
Quelle: dpa / Vesa Moilanen
The 33-year-old quickly put his words into action. Lesser, who will retire at the end of the season, made his Instagram account available to Ukrainian biathlete Anastasiya Merkushyna. The 27-year-old is said to use Lesser’s wide reach to enlighten followers about the horrors of war in their home country.
Since last January, Lesser has gained thousands of followers from Russia because he helped the Russian biathlete Eduard Latypow with a home bike trainer when he had to go into isolation in Oberhof because of Corona. The sporty gesture gave Lesser many more fans on Instagram in one fell swoop.
“Your silence costs dozens of lives”
“I thought a lot about what I can do personally because I have 30,000 followers from Russia on Instagram. I thought, if I post something there, no one will believe me,” said Lesser on ZDF. He decided to use his one reach so that people in Russia get real news: “I contacted Anastasija by email, she was there immediately. Now I want to win over two or three other athletes and I hope that will do something.”
“We keep hearing and seeing the impacts and detonations behind us”
On the northern outskirts of Kyiv, WELT reporter Steffen Schwarzkopf observes the shelling of the embattled small town of Irpin. Detonations can be heard again and again in the live switch. At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers can be seen withdrawing from the city.
Since then, Merkushyna has been posting pictures of the war and explicitly addressed Russian athletes: “I am addressing athletes, you know exactly what is happening and you remain silent, your silence costs dozens of lives!”
Lesser, who won two Olympic silver medals in Sochi, Russia in 2014, feuded with the IOC ahead of the Beijing Olympics last February. The games are “under the headline: money, generate money. It’s about nothing else here,” Lesser had said and also criticized the gigantic nature of the new competition venues and President Thomas Bach personally. He will end his career this March: “That’s it for me. I’ll pack my things here now, do my three World Cups and then: Adios Amigos!”
