The Guardian newspaper, that Ukrainian athletes received special instructions on how to react to athletes from Russia at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Acting In an interview with The Guardian, the Minister of Sports of Ukraine, Matvyi Bidnyi, expressed his concern about Russia's possible use of its athletes as part of a propaganda operation at the Olympics. It shows how deep a political dilemma can affect sporting events, which usually have a unifying force.
He said that for this purpose recommendations have been developed that will help Ukrainians to avoid being involved in controversial situations, similar to the one when fencer Olga Harlan was excluded from the World Championship for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent.
Poor called on the athletes of his country to keep a "cool head" and not pay attention to any provocations from Russian athletes who will compete at the Olympics under a neutral flag.
The recommendations of the Ministry of Sports state that Ukrainian athletes should maintain interaction with Russians at the minimum permissible level. The priority for Ukraine is the safety of its participants and the reluctance to draw attention to itself in a negative way: "This is how Russia conducts war: it influences opinions and manipulates them. Sports is a very important part of their propaganda and we have done a lot for the world to keep them out of the international sports movement. Even journalists cannot appear at the Olympics under their flag."
