Almost half of the 57 Russian athletes who were admitted to international competitions in neutral status belong to the ranks of the Russian army, went to the occupied territories and support the war.
This is stated in the Babel investigation.
The list of Russian athletes who support the war, advocate for army structures, and some of them are active military personnel:
- twins Anton and Kirill Borodachovs — since 2018, the brothers have represented the Central Army Sports Club as juniors. In 2021, they were called up to the CSKA sports company of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, where they took the oath. In 2023, Kyrylo Borodachov received the title of "Soldier of the Year".
- Alan Fardzhinov is a representative of CSKA and an ensign of the Russian army, who has been serving since at least 2017. In addition to civilian appearances for the Russian national team, he is a member of the Ministry of Defense national team.
- Sofia Pozdniakova (Lokhanova) is the daughter of the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, a colonel of the Russian army. Since 2017, she has been a representative of CSKA, who spoke at the clubʼs forum, where children were encouraged to enroll in sports schools of the army structure.
- Valeria Kobzyeva does not hide that she supports Russian aggression. She repeatedly liked posts with Z and V symbols, support for the occupation of Crimea and inscriptions "For the World without Nazism! For Russia! For the President!". Because of this, Ukraine submitted an application demanding to exclude Kobzyeva from the list of neutral athletes, and the athlete was not allowed to participate in the European Championships in June 2023. But in July 2023, Kobzyeva was on the additional list of "neutral athletes" of the International Fencing Federation.
- Vladislav Pozdnyakov — European champion and prize-winner of other international competitions, representative of CSKA. He took the oath of the Russian army in 2018 in Sochi. Pozdnyakov speaks for the sports club "Youth of Moscow", which in March 2023 supported the occupation of Crimea.
- Aleksandra Sunduchkova — represents the structure of the Ministry of Defense of CSKA, studies at Voenmyech University. This is a technical university that "trains specialists in complex security", in particular defense and information security.
«Babel'»
11 more fencers associated with the Russian military:
- Edgar Aleksanyan (private of the Central Military District of the CSKA sports company in Samara);
- Zakhar Kozlov (CSKA private, visited occupied Sevastopol);
- Kristina Samsonova (CSKA, was in the occupied Crimea);
- Grigoriy Semenyuk (regular CSKA);
- Kirill Tyulyukov (regular CSKA);
- Aleksandr Trushakov (ensign of CSKA);
- Kristina Yasynska (CSKA athlete);
- Marta Martyanova (Olympic champion, represents the "Dynamo" community, which is subordinate to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia);
- Svitlana Tripapina ( "Dynamo", published a photo with Dmytro Medvedev in 2015);
- Aleksey Dadaev (published a photo in a military uniform with CSKA chevrons );
- Vadym Mylnikov ("Dynamo"; received the Order of Merit to the Motherland, 1st degree, for silver at the 2020 Olympics in the Kremlin).
"Neutral" fencers who trained or rested in the occupied Crimea:
- Arina Kamaldinova;
- Anastasia Beznosikova;
- Polina Khaertdinova;
- Ayla Mamedova;
- Danil Kravtsov;
- Anastasia Rustamova;
- Dmytrii Nasonov;
- Dmytrii Osipov (Russian cadet).
In March 2023, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) allowed 57 Russian fencers to return to competition in a "neutral status" — they must perform without national symbols and the national anthem. The list includes masters of sports, prize-winners of the Spartakiads and international championships, some of them Olympic winners. Some of them had time to perform at the European Championship and the World Championship in June and July 2023, respectively. The Russians are likely to take part in the FIE Grand Prix in Turin and the World Cup in February 2024.
- Russia is also going to send 40 athletes, at least 15 of whom are active servicemen of the Russian army, to the European Judo Championship in France, which will be held on November 3-5 in the city of Montpellier.