The presidency of Ukraine strongly criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday, accusing it of being „a promoter of war” because it is examining the possibility of authorizing the participation of Russian athletes under a neutral flag at the 2024 Olympic Games, AFP informs, Agerpres reads.

„The IOC is a promoter of war, murder and destruction. The IOC watches with pleasure as Russia destroys Ukraine and then gives Russia a platform to promote genocide” against Ukrainians, presidential adviser Mihailo Podoliak accused on Twitter, personally targeting Thomas Bach, the German president of the IOC.

„It is obvious that the money that buys Olympic hypocrisy does not smell of Ukrainian blood. Is it not, Mr. Bach?” wrote Podoliak.

Confronted since February 2022 with the Russian invasion that devastated Ukraine, Kiev demands that athletes from Russia and from Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin, be banned from participating in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But the IOC said last Wednesday that it is „analyzing” the possibility of authorizing their participation under a neutral flag, given that Russians and Belarusians have been excluded from most international competitions since the beginning of the invasion.

These proposals raised the anger of Ukrainians. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday denounced the „hypocrisy” of the IOC and invited Thomas Bach to visit Bahmut, one of the hot spots of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

On Sunday, Zelenski announced in his daily message that he had written a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron on the issue. „Olympism and terrorist states must not intersect,” Zelensky said, while the Ukrainian sports minister threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics on Thursday.

Agerpres