Ukraine angers Russia with Euro 2020 football kit
A new kit for Ukraine's football team, exhibiting a map including Russian-annexed Crimea, has provoked anger in Moscow.
Ukraine unveiled its clothing for Euro 2020, emblazoned using its borders including Crimea and the slogan "Glory to Ukraine!"
Russia took over the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine found in 2014, and considers it part of its territory, something rejected internationally.
A good Russian MP called it a "political provocation".
The head of the Ukrainian football association, Andriy Pavelko, revealed the kit in a video on his Facebook page on Sunday, days prior to the European Championship kicks off.
Leading of the yellow shirt shows the contours of Ukraine in white, including Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled parts of Donetsk and Lugansk.
A good slogan on the back reads "Glory to Ukraine!" - a patriotic chant employed as a good rallying cry by protesters who forced out a pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
"We assume that Ukraine's silhouette will give power to the players because they'll fight for all of Ukraine," Mr Pavelko said.
But Russian overseas ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the packages, saying the football group had "attached Ukraine's territory to Russia's Crimea", creating the "illusion of the unattainable".
She said the slogan was nationalistic and echoed a Nazi rallying cry.
MP Dmitry Svishchev called the t-shirt "totally inappropriate" and urged Euro 2020 organisers Uefa to do this.
The tournament, postponed due to Covid-19, will run from June 11 to July 11 across 11 web host cities, including Russia's Saint Petersburg, which hosts a quarter-final.
