The Russian government today authorized athletes from the four annexed Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – to compete with Russia, although Russian troops do not control those territories in their entirety.
“The document prepared by the government will allow them to create their own regional federations and enter the Russian federations with full rights,” said Mikhail Mishustin, Russian Prime Minister, during a meeting of the Executive.
Mishustin stressed that said document will allow athletes “to participate at all levels, either individually or as part of our teams.”
In addition, both athletes and coaches from those four regions formally annexed on September 30, 2022 during a ceremony in the Kremlin can aspire to state subsidies and prizes in case of medaling in different tournaments.
Now the heaviest fighting on the front lines is taking place in Donetsk, where just over half of the territory is controlled by the Russian army, although there are daily shelling and skirmishes in the other three regions.
The northern third of Jershon is dominated by Ukrainian troops, as is part of Zaporiyia, including both regional capitals.
Athletes from the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea (2014) already compete in different individual and team disciplines in Russia, although their football clubs are still not allowed to participate in national competitions.
