Kiev: According to the country's sports minister, Vadym Guttsait, 262 Ukrainian athletes have died in Russia's war against Ukraine, and 363 sporting venues have been destroyed.
When Guttsait met with Morinari Watanabe, the visiting president of the International Federation of Gymnastics, he declared that no Russian athletes should be permitted to compete in the Olympics or other sporting events.
According to a transcript on President Volodymyr Zelensky's website, Huttsait stated, "They all support this war and participate in activities held in support of this war."
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The gradual re-entry of Russian and Belarusian athletes into international competition as neutrals has been suggested by the International Olympic Committee. Regarding their participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics, no decision has been made.
The IOC has criticized Ukraine's decision to prohibit its athletes from competing in 2024 Olympic qualifying events if they must compete against Russians. Ukraine made this announcement on Friday.
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The number of Ukrainian athletes who were killed or the number of facilities that were destroyed could not be independently verified by Reuters.
Following Russia's complete invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a number of Ukrainian national-le
vel athletes have voluntarily enlisted in the armed forces to protect their nation.
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Figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, who died in battle near Bakhmut, and future Olympian and 22-year-old decathlon champion Volodymyr Androshchuk were among the victims this year alone.