33 “neutral” Russian athletes were admitted to the Olympics in Paris. At least 9 of them go to Crimea, glorify the occupiers and honor Russian generals. Babel investigation

On July 26, 2024, the Summer Olympic Games will start in Paris. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already admitted 33 "neutral" athletes with Russian citizenship to them. The IOC assures that they do not support the war and have no ties to the Russian Armed Forces and other power structures of Russia. The Tribune publication writes that the IOC really eliminated openly pro-war athletes. For example, judokas, about whom Babel wrote, were not allowed to the Olympics. The head of the Russian Wrestling Federation Mikhail Mamiashvili was dissatisfied with this, and he agreed that the selection was "filtration". He said that the IOC did not allow the strongest athletes to compete. Despite this, the official Russian authorities support the performance of the Russians at the Olympics, although some propagandists call them traitors. However, according to Babel, at least nine Russian "neutral" Olympians support the war, the occupation of Ukrainian territories and participated in propaganda tournaments. Five more neutral athletes — according to the IOC — did not take part in Russian propaganda, but given their activity in social networks, they support the war. Babel correspondent Oleksandr Miasyshchev checked hundreds of mentions, photos and accounts of Russian athletes, and here are the results.

Tamara Dronova, 30 years old

She is a road and track cyclist, a medalist of the Russian championships, as well as a silver medalist of several European championships. Dronova visited the occupied Crimea many times, in particular in 2016 and 2019. She trained and competed there. Dronova does not hide these facts.

"When my son was little, we went to Crimea to train. I removed Sochi and Adler from my options a long time ago — there is a large flow of cars and many dissatisfied drivers," the athlete explained her decision. Even after the full-scale invasion, Dronova regretted that she would not be able to wear a T-shirt with Russian symbols at international competitions.

The Molfar OSINT agency found out that Dronova also worked in the Moscow division of the “Dynamo” sports association. Like the Central Sports Club of the Army, this is a structure of security forces. The "Dynamo" trains the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Russian Guard. Along with civilian athletes, employees of these structures undergo alternative military service there.

Alan Ostaev, 29 years old

He is a classical style wrestler from Ossetia, a two-time champion of Russia, also won at the Spartakiad. He went to a competition in occupied Crimea. In particular, in 2018, Ostaev performed at the All-Russian wrestling tournament in Alushta, which was dedicated to the "Day of the Reunification of Crimea with Russia" and "Day of the All-Crimean Referendum of 2014". The winners, including Ostaev, were awarded by the head of the occupation administration Serhii Aksyonov.

In 2023, Ostaev took part in the tournament in memory of Russian General Kutuzov. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Roman Kutuzov commanded the "1st Army Corps” of the “DPR" and died on June 5, 2022 near Popasna in the Luhansk region.

Magomed Murtazaliev, 23 years old

He is a world champion among classical wrestlers under the age of 23, a silver medalist of the European Championship. In 2023, he also participated in the tournament in memory of General Kutuzov.

Nachyn Mongush, 24 years old

He is a freestyle wrestler, a silver champion of Europe and a world champion. In 2021, Mongush served in the Russian army and was a member of the sports team of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. In 2021, he attended the military sports games in Iran.

In November 2022, Mongush spoke to Tuva University students as part of the "Iʼm proud of heroes" propaganda project together with “United Russia” [“Yedinaya Rosiya”] MP Eres Sat and a Russian occupier Chayan Chimba, who participated in the war. At the same time, Mongush took a joint photo with Chimba. In March 2023, Mongush and his coach campaigned for Russians to vote in the presidential elections of Russia. The campaign video ends with the occupation symbol “V”.

Angela Bladtseva, 18 years old

She is engaged in jumping on a trampoline and has already won the world championship. In May 2023, she participated in the jumping championship in Krasnodar. Bladtseva and other athletes performed there against the background of the “Z” symbol, the inscription "We donʼt abandon our own!” and other propaganda posters.

Arslan Bagaev, 20 years old

He is a freestyle wrestler, a champion of Russia and Europe among athletes under the age of 23. In 2024, Bagaev took part in the Russian “Ivan Yarygin Cup” tournament. Russian occupiers and their families were invited to this tournament as guests. "SVO veterans" [“Special Military Operation” veterans] awarded the winners, including Bagaev. The wrestler took a joint photo with one of the occupiers.

Elizaveta Petlyakova, 20 years old

She is a freestyle wrestler, a medalist of Russian tournaments and a silver world champion among juniors. In 2024, Petlyakova also participated in the "Ivan Yarygin Cup" tournament, where the guests were the Russian occupiers. She took third place there and received an award from the "SVO veterans".

Abdulla Kurbanov, 22 years old

He is a champion of Russia in freestyle wrestling. In March 2022, he took part in a tournament dedicated to the Russian occupier Nurmagomed Hajimagomedov. The latter died in the war in Ukraine.

Alyona Ivanchenko, 20 years old

She is a cyclist, a winner of the Russian and European championships, competes for the womenʼs world team UCI UAE Team ADQ. In 2019, the "neutral" athlete visited the occupied Crimea, and in 2020 she performed in the occupied Sevastopol.

We found out signs of support for the war and the Russian government in five more Russian Olympians:

• Valerii Endovitskyi. He is a judoka, plays for the "Dynamo" association. He was already involved in the Babel investigation;
• Alice Startseva. She is an athlete from CSKA. On February 24, 2022, she posted photos from Crimea on social networks. After Babelʼs investigation into Russian judokas, Startseva deleted the photo with the mark in Crimea. Also, mentions of her participation in CSKA disappeared;
• Natalia Malysheva. She is a freestyle wrestler. In 2023, she took part in a childrenʼs tournament organized by CSKA. She also liked the fallen occupiers on social networks;
• Alina Kasabieva. She is a freestyle wrestler. The Base of Ukrainian sports community discovered that Kasabieva liked posts promoting war and Putinʼs policies on social networks. She is Crimean, but she received Russian citizenship and was happy that she was representing Russia at the competition;
• Shamil Mammadov. He is a freestyle wrestler, was a junior at CSKA. In Instagram, we found a photo from his training, where a large portrait of Putin hangs in the hall. Another photo from training shows the portrait of the "SVO hero" Nurmagomed Hajimagomedov.

There are probably more facts supporting the war among athletes. For example, wrestlers and cyclists have a training camp in occupied Alushta, where their juniors also train. For example, the national team includes Tamara Dronova, as well as "neutral" cyclist Gleb Syritsa, who was admitted to the Olympics. However, we found no evidence that Dronova was in Crimea in 2024. We also did not find data on the cyclist Syritsaʼs visits to the peninsula.

Russian sports federations, which organize competitions and train Olympians, also support the war. For example, the Federation of Sports Wrestling of the Russian Federation organizes competitions for "SVO veterans”, and also takes children from the occupied Luhansk region to Russia. The federation also distributes Russian occupation symbols: the St. George ribbon, “Z” symbols. At one of the childrenʼs competitions, there was a large poster with the inscription "Zа мир!” [“For Peace!”]. The situation is similar in other federations. For example, the Cycling Federation held a competition in honor of the occupation of Crimea.

To find data on "neutral" Russians, Oleksandr spent long days in the annals of "Yandex", "VKontakte" and even "Odnoklassniki". Drop him a donation for vitamins: 🔸 Buy Me a Coffee, 🔸 Patreon, 🔸 PayPal: paypal@babel.ua