After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in early 2022, numerous sanctions and restrictions were imposed on the aggressor, including in the field of sports. Despite this, Russians are still actively seeking any opportunity to return to the international sports arena.<\/p>\n
To date, Russia has been officially banned from participating in sports competitions by 90% of the world\u2019s countries. European governments have approved a ban on athletes and teams representing Russia from participating in events organized on their territories. However, there are countries that maintain \u201cneutrality\u201d towards Russians, and unfortunately, one of them is the Republic of Cyprus. Thus, even in the third year of full-scale war, Russian singers, performers, theaters, ballets, and now athletes still have access to performances and competitions on the island.<\/p>\n
In Larnaca, at the World SAMBO Championships (Cadets, Youth, and Juniors World SAMBO Championships 2024), a team of \u201cyoung and promising\u201d Russian athletes, all under the age of 20, is taking part in the championship. SAMBO is one of the most popular sports in Russia, especially among military and police academies, and Russia\u2019s two largest sports organizations\u2014CSKA and Dynamo\u2014are closely linked to military structures and openly support the war and the Russian army. The dictator Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, is an honored SAMBO coach in Russia, as proudly stated on the All-Russian SAMBO Federation\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
A Ukrainian team is also participating in the competition. For Ukrainian athletes, the war is not just words: the home cities of many players have been destroyed or occupied by Russian forces. The cities where they currently live are constantly subjected to missile attacks, resulting in the deaths of their friends, acquaintances, loved ones, and fellow citizens. Ukrainian athletes cannot train in sports facilities because they have been destroyed by the aggressor country, and their parents and relatives are dying on the front lines defending their country.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian embassy has already responded to this brazen act with an open letter to the President of the SAMBO Federation of the Republic of Cyprus. We are also trying to draw the attention of global media, international sports organizations, and concerned political forces to the situation unfolding. Given the ongoing Russian aggression, there can be no \u201cneutrality\u201d in sports or admission of athletes from the aggressor country to any international competitions\u2014this is cynicism of the highest order! When Russians say, \u201cOh sport! You are peace!\u201d\u2014what kind of peace are they referring to? The same peace that is accompanied by unprecedented war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Ukrainian people?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in early 2022, numerous sanctions and restrictions were imposed on the aggressor, including in the field of sports. Despite this, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ukrcy-news-eng","category-novyny"],"yoast_head":"\n