“Athletes from these countries cannot participate in international competitions either under their own or under neutral flags … If athletes from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus (Republic of Belarus – ed.) are allowed to participate in competitions, Ukrainian athletes are ready to block their performances and boycott such competitions,” Gutzeit said during an online meeting with the All-Ukrainian federations of Olympic and non-Olympic sports, his words are given on the website of the department.
How exactly the performances of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be “blocked”, Gutzeit did not specify.
Earlier, the IOC Executive Committee, amid the events in Ukraine, recommended not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions. This recommendation was followed by most IFs.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal “the protection of people who for eight years have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv regime.” For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”, to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for “bloody crimes once morest civilians” in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage – they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
