Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Their Countries Are on Opposite Sides of a War, but They Stand United

University of San Francisco center Volodymyr Markovetskyy is from Ukraine. His teammates Yauhen Massalski and Dzmitry Ryuny are from Belarus. But they’ve spoken out together with a simple plea: ‘Stop the war.’

On March 4, one night before the San Francisco men’s basketball team celebrated a 75–63 win over BYU that all but clinched its first NCAA tournament bid since 1998, three Dons players posted the same video to each of their social media accounts.

The clip opened on a solo shot of sophomore center Volodymyr Markovetskyy, his 7'2" frame folded into the front row of USF’s film room, the blue-and-yellow flag of his country draped over the seats behind him.