You're reading: Russian Olympic Committee annexes ‘Ukraine Region’

According to the official London 2012 Olympics website, Alexey Korovashkov, who canoes for the Russian Federation, is listed as being born in “Ukraine Region (RUS).”

Korovashkov is not alone. At least two female athletes on the Russian team are also from the “Ukraine Region.” Several others are from the “Lvov Region (RUS)” or “Lutsk (RUS).” In fact, almost all athletes born in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, saw their birthplaces annexed as if Ukraine doesn’t exist at all as a sovereign nation.

The misclassification will do nothing to lessen resentment among many Ukrainians over centuries of Russian dominance, from czarist through Soviet times, before Ukraine gained its independence in 1991. Criticism was swift.

“Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his diplomats to apply ‘soft power’ tactics to promote Russian interests abroad. This is an ongoing example of Russia’s systematic soft-power attacks against Ukraine’s national and international security,” said Walter Derzko, executive director of the Strategic Foresight Institute in Toronto, Canada. “This time, it is on the official Olympic website. Since when is Ukraine a region of Russia? This deserves a strong reaction from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the leadership in the Ukrainian diaspora.”

Perusing the official London Games webpage for the Russian Olympic team, the Kyiv Post found at least 30 athletes from Russia’s “near abroad” affected by Russification, including more than a dozen Ukraine-born Olympic athletes.

Thus, David Ayrapetyan was born in “Baku (RUS)” (the capital of Azerbaijan), Alexandr Ivanov hailed from “Rustavi (RUS)” (actually in Georgia), while Tatiana Kosheleva came from “Belorussia Region (RUS).”

Anastasia Bliznyuk and Karolina Sevastyanova, both gymnasts, were a little luckier. While their place of birth was “Ukraine Region,” it was at least noted as still being a separate state with the (UKR) ticker.

In fact, only two athletes did not have their country of birth turned into a region or attached to Russia. The first was Valentin Kruglyakov, born in 1985 in Seksard, Hungary. The other was Larisa Pankova, born in 1991 in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

According to Tim Potter, a spokesperson for the London Games site, the National Olympic Committees are in charge of providing biographical data. The Russian Olympic Committee did not respond to a Kyiv Post e-mailed inquiry. Likewise, representatives of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee wouldn’t talk over the phone and didn’t respond to an e-mailed query.

The Georgian Olympic Committee, however, has already expressed outrage and is demanding a correction from the London Olympic organizers. This is not surprising, given that the website says Besik Kudukhov’s birthplace was in South Ossetia (RUS).”

Georgia lost control over the breakaway republic after a five-day war with Russia in 2008. Since then its independence has been recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the island nations of Nauru and Tuvalu (Solomon Islands refused), but never has there been talk of annexation.

Lada L. Roslycky, an expert on security with a focus on the Black Sea region, said Moscow is increasingly using such soft power tactics in an effort to weaken, divide and geopolitically conquer former Soviet republics that where once under its control.

Referring to Russia’s alleged role in fuelling separatism in Abkhazia and South Ossetia — the breakaway regions in the Caucasus country of Georgia — she said: “I have studied the manners in which the Russian Federation has been using soft power tactics to promote separatism and gain geopolitical power. Without these tactics Abkhazia and South Ossetia would not be in the situation they are in now. Moreover, their operations continue to be used in regard to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.”

“The language law which was recently [adopted by lawmakers in Ukraine to boost usage of Russian language] is another example of soft power war,” added Roslycky. “The recent move against Ukraine and other post-Soviet states is a direct attack against their soft power security.”

Kyiv Post staff writers Jakub Parusinski can be reached at [email protected] and Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].