Colorado State Fans Taunted Ukrainian Utah State Player Max Shulga With Disgusting 'Russia' Chants

The Colorado State student section took heckling the opposing basketball team during free throws way too far on Saturday.

In the final minute of a closely contested game, Utah State guard Max Shulga stepped up to the free throw line to try to extend his squad's 83-77 lead on the road in Fort Collins.

At that point, Colorado State fans in the student section could clearly be heard chanting 'Russia' in sequence. Shulga is from Kiev, Ukraine and his family still lives there, opting to stay in the country that has been ravaged by the constant threat of attack.

Obviously, the Colorado State students were taunting Shulga about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians and even more soldiers.

In a series of tweets, Colorado State issued an apology after the game concluded.

“Following tonight’s basketball game, we became aware that a small group of individuals in our student section chanted ‘Russia’ at a student-athlete from Utah State, who is from the Ukraine. On behalf of Colorado State, we apologize to the student-athlete and Utah State. This is a violation of our steadfast belief in the Mountain West Sportsmanship Policy and University Principles of Community,” the school wrote on Twitter.

While the program attributed the incident to a "small group of individuals," the chants could clearly be heard on the television broadcast which takes more than a few bad apples participating.

Shulga is among Utah State's top players, averaging 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 29.5 minutes per game and clearly the hateful chants didn't work as the Aggies left victorious.

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Lifelong die-hard DC fan (all four teams). College football and the NFL are my biggest passions but I love writing & discussing all sports. Live in Virginia with my two rescue pups Wally & Reagan. Follow me on Twitter @SeanLabarPR