Earlier this month, Daria Kasatkina got married to Olympian Natalia Zabiiako in Greece, with several WTA players in attendance for the celebrations. However, the ceremony soon became the subject of controversy after Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova publicly criticized some of her fellow countrywomen for attending the wedding.

One of the players was Ukrainian pro Yuliia Starodubtseva. However, Starodubtseva has now responded to the criticism, explaining why she chose to attend Kasatkina’s wedding and offering her perspective on the backlash.

“Regarding the decision to attend my friend’s wedding, I went to celebrate love. Dasha’s (Kasatkina) outspoken, anti-w*r stance is well documented, and while there might be emotions towards some on the guest list, I was there solely to support my friend,” she wrote on an Instagram post.

Notably, Kasatkina hails from Russia and had switched her sporting allegiance to Australia just last year. So, it wasn’t a surprise that several Russian players were also in attendance for the wedding. The guest list also included players of Russian descent, who now compete for different countries.

Oliynykova, who wasn’t in attendance for the wedding, directly called out her compatriots and questioned their ties with the Russian players.

“Girls, judging by your cheerful dancing, I can see you have plenty of energy,” she wrote on an Instagram story. “Why not use it to help close the fundraiser for a vehicle for the Ukrainian Marines? With your audience and resources, this could be done very quickly. There’s only $5K left to raise. Or is it because your Russian friends wouldn’t understand?”

Following this, she called out the Ukrainian players who attended Kasatkina’s wedding. Her post resulted in the players coming under intense scrutiny from fans, many of whom were enraged over the issue.

But it still wasn’t surprising to see many Ukrainian players attending Kasatkina’s wedding. This is because Kasatkina also shares a similar sentiment regarding the ongoing conflict between the two nations.

Daria Kasatkina has been openly critical of Russia over geo-political tensions with Ukraine

Notably, Kasatkina had described the conflict as a “full-blown nightmare” in 2022 and has repeatedly stated that it should come to an end as soon as possible.

Reflecting on the decision to switch her sports allegiance, Kasatkina had expressed that she wouldn’t be able to live her life the way she wanted if she continued residing in Russia. She knew that she needed to find another place to live, and this is where Australia came into the picture.

“If I wanted to live a free, open life as I wanted, unfortunately, I couldn’t do it in Russia. I had to find another place. And I did,” she had said in an interview with The Guardian in 2025.

After changing her nationality last year, Kasatkina later acquired full Australian citizenship in January 2026. She is currently the highest-ranked Australian player on the WTA circuit at No. 62 and is living her life to the fullest with her partner, Natalia Zabiiako.