The head of the Russian Olympic Committee spoke about activities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine
Russian Minister of Sport and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev stated that the ROC will continue to operate in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, despite the administrative reform carried out within the organization.
According to him, in 2024, the Russian Olympic Committee dissolved all 89 regional Olympic councils, including those established in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
“Back in 2024, our Olympic Committee carried out an administrative reform and abolished all 89 Olympic councils in every region of our country. Their abolition didn’t particularly bother anyone—they usually consisted of just two or three activists in each region who were supposedly supposed to promote Olympic values but were squandering large sums of money that we are now saving. Our enemies are now trying to blow out of proportion the fact that four “Novorossiya” councils were among those 89. We have not renounced any territories. “The Olympic Committee operates throughout the entire territory of Russia, as enshrined in the Constitution,” Degtyarev stated.
The head of the ROC also denied reports that Russia had allegedly ceased operations in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
“So all of this is nonsense, lies, and provocations. They’re doing this for various reasons—either to rile us up a bit, or simply out of ignorance. So I want to reassure everyone: Crimea is ours, ‘Novorossiya’ is ours,” he said.
The Russian official’s statements concern the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which the international community recognizes as an integral part of Ukraine.
Degtyarev made this statement on July 9 during a broadcast with Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
As a reminder, in the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region, the Russian occupation authorities have declared a man-made state of emergency due to widespread power outages. A total of 207 settlements remain without electricity, and power outages have also been reported in 18 districts and cities of the temporarily occupied Crimea.
Earlier, the Russian presidential administration sent special “recommendations” to state-run and pro-government media outlets regarding how exactly to report on the fuel shortage in the country.
The fuel crisis is also intensifying in Russia: gasoline is running out at gas stations and lines are growing longer.
Russia has allowed the use of lower-quality gasoline due to the fuel crisis.
