"Russians are terrorists": Ukrainian skier refuses to communicate with Russian representatives

Ukrainian cross-country skier Andrii Dotsenko has said he will refuse to communicate with Russians during the Tour de Ski 2025/26 World Cup competitions.

Source: SVT Sport

Details: Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that the appeal by the Russian Ski Federation had been upheld, allowing Russian skiers to compete in World Cup events provided they are classified as neutral athletes.

So far, two Russian cross-country skiers and two Belarusians have been approved to compete under neutral status.

"They [the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, FIS – ed.] say that we should talk to the Russians, but I don't talk to any of them. They are terrorists.

I don't think we should be competing with terrorists. I think FIS should realise that Russians are terrorists. The federation should listen to the whole world.

Last night, 100 drones attacked Ukraine. Many people are killed every day – small children and women. This is wrong. What message does it send when they are allowed to compete again? We need to talk about this. It's bad. They say sport and politics are not connected, but sport is 100% politics," Dotsenko said.

Background: The day before, three Ukrainian athletes competed at a stage of the Tour de Ski 2025/26 multi-day event.

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