Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the next Olympic Games, in 2024 in Paris. In a letter dated January 31 and revealed Thursday February 9 by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach denounced this posture as going “against the fundamentals of the Olympic movement”.
At the end of January, the IOC had set fire to the powder by proposing a roadmap to organize the return of these athletes under a neutral flag, provided that they had “not actively supported the war in Ukraine”. But on Sunday, Thomas Bach wanted to reassure kyiv, in response to comments from Ukraine accusing the body of being a “promoter of war” in Ukraine.
“We share the suffering” of Ukrainian athletes, assures Thomas Bach
Ukrainian athletes “know how much we share their suffering”, assured Thomas Bach on Sunday February 12 in Courchevel, France. “It is not up to governments to decide” on the participation of certain countries in international competitions and in particular in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, added the IOC President, while some States are considering a boycott of the Olympic Games in the event of presence. of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“I have spoken with many Ukrainian athletes in recent months, and many of them support us because they know how much we share their suffering and the efforts we are making to help them,” said the president of the CIO, present in Courchevel for the downhill of the Alpine Skiing World Championships.
“A UN Human Rights Council rapporteur told us that excluding Russian or Belarusian athletes just because of their passport is a violation of their rights,” he added. “We have seen some statements, coming from Baltic countries or other countries, expressing their concerns. Unfortunately, they do not address the issue of human rights, which we must take seriously.”
Berlusconi attacks Zelensky, Meloni reframes him
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose party is a member of Giorgia Meloni’s government coalition, launched an all-out attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, immediately drawing the Prime Minister’s wrath .
Asked about the meeting Thursday in Brussels between Giorgia Meloni and Volodymyr Zelensky, he replied: “Me talking with Volodymyr Zelensky? If I had been President of the Council, I would never have gone there”. He then explained his motives: “It was enough for him (Volodymyr Zelensky) to stop attacking the two autonomous republics of Donbass and all this would not have happened, therefore I judge this gentleman’s behavior very, very negatively”, said he said when he had just voted for the regional elections in Lombardy.
Silvio Berlusconi, 86, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he was in power, is not his first controversial statement on the conflict in Ukraine, even if he has been quieter since the victory in the September 2022 elections of the coalition bringing together his Forza Italia party, Matteo Salvini’s League and Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia formation.
In September, Silvio Berlusconi had caused an uproar by believing that Vladimir Putin had been “pushed” by his population and the pro-Russian forces of Donbass to invade Ukraine.
On Sunday, his new pro-Russian statements had barely made the front page of news sites when the government issued a statement to reaffirm Italy’s “firm support” for Ukraine. “The Italian government’s support for Ukraine is firm and convinced, as clearly foreseen in the program and as confirmed by all the parliamentary votes of the majority supporting the executive,” he said. Giorgia Meloni, who met one-on-one with Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday in Brussels, discussed with him an upcoming visit to kyiv, “being organized”.
Wagner leader claims capture of locality near Bakhmout
The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said on Sunday that his troops had taken the Ukrainian town of Krasna Hora, a few kilometers north of Bakhmout, a key city that Moscow has been trying to conquer for several months. “Today, Wagner’s assault units took the town of Krasna Hora,” said Yevgeny Prigojine, quoted by his press service. AFP could not verify these statements from an independent source.
For more than six months, the Wagner group and the Russian army have been trying to capture Bakhmout, in eastern Ukraine, a city of limited strategic importance but which has gained great symbolic importance due to the duration of the fights. Russian forces have been trying in recent weeks to encircle Bakhmout and have succeeded in cutting several roads to the city, vital for the supply of Ukrainian troops.
The Wagner Group announced on January 11 that it had taken Soledar, a larger town not far from Krasna Hora. But the Russian Ministry of Defense had taken two days to announce the conquest of Soledar, revealing dissension between Wagner and the Russian regular army.
Moscow wants to secure its first significant victory after months of setbacks, but kyiv is determined to hold on. And as both sides entrench themselves, the human cost, to troops and civilians alike, has overshadowed the strategic importance of controlling this crumbling former industrial city in its eastern, northern and southern quarters.