Boxer, esports and paralympic organization: OP unveils new sanctions against Russians

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted new National Security and Defense Council sanctions against Russian sports propagandists. This message and the relevant documents was published on his website.

These are restrictions against legal entities such as the Paralympic Committee and the Russian Computer Sports Federation, as well as their heads, Pavel Rozhkov and Dmitry Smith. In addition, the sanctions list includes Russian boxer and fighter Yakov Bukin.

Regarding the latter, the OP noted that he publicly supports Russian aggression and approves of the actions of the invaders.

The aforementioned committee and federation and their leaders use sports grounds to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives and Russian propaganda in an attempt to justify Russia's war against Ukraine, the president's Office explained.

"By introducing these sanctions, our country reminds the world before the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics that sport is not outside politics. After all, the sanctioned persons openly support aggression, war crimes and occupation and thus destroy the principles and values of the Olympic movement," the statement said.

The new sanctions were imposed for 10 years. In particular, they include the freezing of assets.

Among other things, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to inform the competent authorities of the European Union, the United States, and other countries of these restrictions and "raise the issue" of imposing similar sanctions.

Zelenskyy also said that he had agreed on further sanctions steps, announcing that decisions would be made "soon."

• On January 4, Ukraine imposed sanctions on 95 individuals and 70 legal entities operating in the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation.