Russia absorbed 22 sports federations in its illegally annexed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) last week, including swimming, as part of an effort to “accelerate the integration of new regions into Russian sports life.”
“Currently, the work of 50 federations of the Donetsk People’s Republic in 52 sports has been organized, 22 of which have been accepted into the composition of all-Russian public organizations,” the regional sports ministry said.
The DPR, a separatist Russian-controlled area located in the historical Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, will now have a regional swimming governing body overseen by Russia that functions similarly to a USA Swimming LSC. A bill adopted by Russia’s State Duma in May opened the door for DPR athletes, including Ukrainians, to receive scholarships, benefits, and incentive payments through the federation.
Last February, Russia recognized the DPR as a sovereign state, three days before invading Ukraine under the guise of protecting the region. Then last September, Russia used illegitimate referendums to annex the DPR and other occupied territories amid international condemnation.
This weekend, Russian president Vladimir Putin dealt with an insurrection after the head of the Wagner private military company seized control of military facilities in two Russian cities and threatened Moscow next. On Saturday, the “armed uprising” was reportedly squashed when Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko brokered an agreement. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia’s “weakness” had been exposed, while a Ukrainian defense spokesperson said it was a “sign of the collapse of the Putin regime.”
Russian athletes were banned from competition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until March, when the IOC executive board recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete as neutrals so long as they have not publicly supported the war in Ukraine. That didn’t seem to satisfy either side as Ukraine is boycotting Olympic qualifying events where Russians are present while Russia has said their athletes will not compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics as a team relegated to refugee status.
“First of all, these initiatives require a legal assessment in terms of how they correspond to the Olympic Charter and human rights,” Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin said last week. “Of course, if it is about the concept that you are talking about, that would mean that the international community is pursuing a policy aimed at destroying our national sports system and this is something that we cannot agree to.”
I know he would never say anything, but I’m curious to know what Andrei Minakov thinks about all of this.
Pretty sure he knows if he says anything too pro-Putin, his time in the U.S. collegiate swimming scene is done. So he spends half his year there fulfilling nationalist obligations while not saying much of anything politically. “No waves made.”
He said something in a feature in February… but it was as vague as you predicted:
… Read more »I assume everyone caught Rylov’s creepy “I love Putin he is the grandmaster of all” IG post?
I did. I mean, this goes way beyond “he was forced to appear at that rally”. He’s just disgusting.
Cue Bach to tell us how this is good for sport.
This is bull s#!t and Putin is a jack a5s it is sad that it is affecting sports