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Svitolina had said she would not shake hands
with Russian or Belarusian players at Roland Garros because of
Russia's invasion of her country.
Belarus has been used as a staging area for what Moscow calls a
"special military operation".
Kasatkina has been one of very few Russian players to speak out
against the war, calling it "a full nightmare". On Sunday, she
was supported by Russian popular singer Zemfira, who left the
country because of her opposition to the invasion.
Zemfira was placed on a Russian Justice Ministry list of foreign
agents in February on the grounds that she supported Ukraine and
criticised the invasion.
After her 6-4 7-6(5) defeat, Kasatkina gave Svilotina a thumb up
and Svitolina was also seen putting her thumb up. It was unclear
whether the gesture was addressed to Kasatkina.
Svitolina, however, said: "Really thankful for her position that
she took. Yeah, she's really brave person to say it publicly,
that not so many players did. She's a brave one."
Kasatkina was however booed by the crowd.
"Leaving Paris with a very bitter feeling. All these days, after
every match I’ve played in Paris I always appreciated and
thanked the crowd for their support and being there for the
players," the 26-year-old wrote on Twitter.
"But yesterday I was booed for just being respectful on my
opponent's position not to shake hands. Me and Elina showed
respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court
like that was the worst part of yesterday.
"Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate."
Geopolitics have been at the centre of this year's French Open,
with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus skipping her post-match press
conference twice, saying she felt unsafe after being grilled
about the war.
Last week, two-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic started
a controversy after writing on a camera lens "Kosovo is the
heart of Serbia" amid unrest in the region.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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