The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, published information about 11 Russian athletes, coaches, and officials. According to the agency, they support the war against Ukraine but continue to participate in international competitions, UNN reports.
Details
This refers to representatives of the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army (CSKA), subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor state.
This structure systematically supports the occupation forces - it provides them with equipment, FPV drones, gear, and is also involved in military-patriotic education of children and promotes the development of international cooperation, particularly within the framework of the World Military Games project. Thus, CSKA athletes, performing on the international stage, actually represent the armed forces of the Russian Federation and are a tool for promoting propaganda and legalizing aggression.
Among the exposed figures:
- Olga Zaitseva - Russian biathlete and deputy of the Moscow City Duma, member of the "United Russia" party, who in February 2026 visited temporarily occupied Donetsk, where she met with the so-called "head of the DPR parliament" and the leader of the military group "Shakhtarska Division" Konstantin Kuzmin;
- Yelizaveta Ivanova, Nikolay Yarilovets, Yelena Krasovskaya, Dmitry Fakiryanov, Viktoria Meshkova - representatives of the climbing team who visited the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine but continue to compete in international competitions, including under a "neutral" status recognized by the International Federation of Sport Climbing;
- Nikolay Monov - coach of the Russian Greco-Roman wrestling team, as well as wrestlers Sergey Semenov, Sergey Emelin, Ali Ilyasov, Erzu Zakriev, who represent CSKA and participated in trips to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The aggressor state of Russia systematically uses international sports as a tool of "soft power" - to promote its own narratives, justify the war, and attempt to legalize the occupation of Ukrainian territories. Such individuals cannot remain part of the global sports community. Their participation in international competitions, even under neutral status, is unacceptable.
Recall
Earlier, UNN reported that individual neutral athletes (AIN) from Russia and Belarus will be able to attend the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. They are allowed to participate in the group, as athletes are not divided by country at the closing ceremony.