Over the last few months, we at Zhik, like the rest of the world, have been shocked and saddened by the breakout of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent humanitarian crisis. I myself am of Ukrainian descent and have grown up with a love for the Ukrainian language and culture. I have also grown up with horrific stories of how my antecedents suffered under the yoke of Soviet domination - but always with the hope that these atrocities would never happen again. Sadly, this now seems to be a case of history repeating.

We also emphatically denounce Russia’s use of the letter “Z”. This is a letter that doesn’t even exist in the Cyrillic alphabet! Our company name and our logo has been known for almost twenty years and we are abhorred by the idea that our logos are being associated with the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people at the hands of the Russian military. Therefore, we are taking the extraordinary step of removing our Z sub-logo from our products wherever practicable.

At the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Zhik complied with sanctions and ceased business in Russia.

We are fundamentally against all war and the only conflicts we support are in sporting competitions. In this vein, we have sponsored the following teams with Zhik clothing and equipment:

 - 2022 Ukraine Optimist World Championship Team

 - 2022 Ukraine World Youth Sailing Team

 - 2022 ILCA 4 & 5 Laser Europeans Team

We are forever inspired by the unifying power of sports and look forward to the day that Ukrainians can live in freedom and enjoy sports on and off the water.

Alexander Zaininger and the entire Zhik team

Sláva Ukrayíni!

Heróyam sláva!