Zelensky on Ukraine’s Euro 2020 football kit: It is definitely special

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine's Euro 2020 football kit is "definitely special."

The head of state wrote this on Instagram.

"The new kit of Ukraine's national football team is definitely special. It can shock. It features several important symbols that unite Ukrainians from Luhansk to Uzhgorod, from Chernihiv to Sevastopol. Our country is one and indivisible. Crimea is Ukraine," Zelensky said.

Representatives of the Ukrainian Association of Football said on June 6 that Ukraine would play at Euro 2020 in a new kit that features the outlines of Ukraine, including Russian-occupied Crimea and the territory in the east of the country controlled by Russian-backed forces. The shirts are also emblazoned with popular chants "Glory to Ukraine!" and "Glory to the Heroes!"

The new kit sparked criticism at the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russian State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev called on UEFA to ban Ukraine's Euro 2020 kit, because, in his opinion, it is "an expression of a certain political position" that differs from Moscow's position.

At the same time, European football's governing body said the Ukrainian shirt "has been approved by UEFA, in accordance with the applicable equipment regulations."