The connection of Russian athletes and war in Ukraine: why the Russian Federation should not be allowed to the 2024 Olympics
Russia uses sports as another tool to achieve its own political goals. Operations under someone else's flag is the usual expansion strategy for the Kremlin. It should be understood that most Olympians from Russia are officers of the armed forces or other law enforcement agencies. They are often members of Dynamo or the Central Army Sports Club, which, for their part, are founded by the FSB, Rosgvardia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
By the way, the latter are directly involved in the war against Ukraine at a level with the military. Here you can make a small calculation. At the Beijing Olympics in 2022, the Russians won 32 medals. In total, 88% of all of them belong to Dynamo and CSKA servicemen. At the Summer Olympiad in Tokyo in 2021 CSKA and Dynamo, all medals of the Russian national team were taken away.
The IOC should be aware that there are almost no athletes in the Russian Federation who would not be mounted in a military car. Even trainers and instructors have military positions in the aggressor country. For example, the two -time Olympic champion of Isinbayev received another military rank from Sergei Shoig. In the same 2015, she signed a five -year CSKA contract. To this day, she is a member of the IOC of Russia.
In August 2016, the Olympic Champion of Isinbayev participated in the propaganda campaign (charging for Russian military in Syria). The propaganda campaign was held just when Russian troops equalized Aleppo and its inhabitants with the Earth. Already in September 2016, that is, a month later, the UN Secretary General, Mr. Guy, condemned Assad regime in Syria and Russia's crimes there.
And this is also despite the fact that the Olympic Charter declares, which is based on general ethical principles and aims to establish sports for the service of harmonious development of mankind, promotes the creation of a peaceful society, etc. The European Parliament has already adopted a resolution where the Russian Federation has recognized the state-sponsor of terrorism. Her victories at the Olympics are supported by the Kremlin's terrorist activity.
The Putin regime forbids the Russians to protest against the war. Therefore, athletes who will return to Russia after the competition will automatically become at least silent accomplices of the crime of the regime because of the inability to speak against. Other Olympians, as officers, obey the orders of their criminal command, which are more important to them than the Olympic principles.
The Olympians already participated in the support of the war: Bolshunov skier, sister Averina's art gymnasts, Rylov swimmer, Listunov gymnast and other prize -winners. They performed at a propaganda rally in Luzhniki in March 2022, where Putin performed. This event was actually made on the occasion of a full -scale attack on Ukraine a few weeks earlier. The leader was no one else as a sports TV presenter Gubernev, who worked as a commentator from the Olympic Games for several decades.
By the way, Nikita Nagorny Army, the champion of the 2021 Olympiad, heads the children's and youth military-patriotic organization "UNARMIA", which is the structure of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. In 2014, the FSB was shamefully exposed during an attempt to change the doping of Russian athletes. In 2021, the Russian Federal Channel switched off the broadcast of the ceremony at the moment when the national team of Ukraine was opened with its flag.
There are other more shameful ways of Russia to bypass justice in competitions. For example, the murder of 184 Ukrainian athletes who will never perform at the Olympics. Russia's Olympic Movement is politicized and militarized. It carries a terrorist threat, so it is impossible to allow international competitions to allow those who contribute to this threat. Athletes also bear a certain share of responsibility for the Kremlin's crimes in Ukraine. IOC can't pretend that nothing is happening.