Uproar as military-affiliated Russians participate in World Fencing Championships held in Tbilisi
For the first time in years, Russian fencers have been given the right to compete as a group at the World Fencing Championships being held in Tbilisi from 22–30 July. Notably, some of the fencers appear to be ranking members of the Russian military with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, causing protest.
The International Fencing Federation (FIE) announced that Russians would be granted the right to compete as a team with neutral status — in other words not under the Russian name and flag — in May, which allowed them to qualify for the European Championships held in June in Genoa, Italy.
At that time, however, the FIE did not allow athletes with military ranks to compete. This changed in early July when the restriction was lifted ahead of the World Fencing Championships. Athletes were still required to submit a ‘sworn declaration of neutrality’ and pledge to support the FIE’s ‘peace mission’ to be allowed to participate, however.
Following this, over 400 international fencers, including some Georgian citizens, wrote an open letter to the FIE, calling on them to reverse the decision and to ‘resume thorough reviews and checks on every athlete applying for [neutral] status’. At the same time, Ukraine’s top sabre fencer and five-time Olympic gold medalist Olga Kharlan refused to compete, slamming in particular the presence of Russian athlete Sofya Velikaya.
Velikaya, 40, is a multiple Olympic and world champion — she also holds the military rank of major. In 2016, she was awarded the first degree medal ‘For Military Valour’ by Putin; two years later, she was part of the initiative group to nominate Putin for president. In 2024, she again took part in Putin’s re-election campaign, where she was officially designated as his ‘trusted representative’.
Besides her ties to Putin, Velikaya is a representative of the Central Army Sports Club (CSKA), which is subordinate to the Russian Defence Ministry. It, along with Velikaya, has been sanctioned by Ukraine.
Another controversial figure is two-time Olympic champion and world champion Yana Egoryan, 31, a lieutenant in the Russian Armed Forces and also a member of CSKA.
Like Velikaya, she participated in Putin’s pre-election campaigns in both 2018 and 2024 — she is also an ambassador for the ‘Healthy Homeland’ movement, which organises events in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Senior Lieutenant Kamil Ibragimov, 32, is also a member of CSKA and has received an award from Putin. Like his compatriots, he has been sanctioned for his military rank and for representing the ‘armed forces of the aggressor state’ at international competitions.
Also participating in the Tbilisi championships is Olga Nikitina, 27, who has been an ensign in the Russian Armed Forces since 2021. That year, she was awarded the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky by Putin.
Finally, brothers Kirill and Anton Borodachev are both members of CSKA as ordinary soldiers. Both have been awarded the medal ‘For Strengthening the Combat Community’ by former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and both are under Ukrainian sanctions.
Georgians protest in response
In reaction to the participation of these Russian athletes, a protest was held in front of the Tbilisi Sports Palace on Sunday. The goal, according to the protest’s Facebook event page, was to make it clear that ‘Russian soldiers will never be happy in Antsukhelide’s homeland’.
Giorgi Antsukhelidze was a Georgian soldier and prisoner of war who was tortured to death during the August 2008 War and was posthumously recognised as a national hero in 2013.
During the protest, demonstrators held up signs drawing attention to the Russian athletes’ connections to Putin as well as Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. Towards the end of the rally, a Russian flag was burned.
In response, the Russian Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Georgia called the protest ‘another Russophobic outburst’ in a post on Facebook. They additionally claimed the protest was carried out by a ‘well-known group of politically engaged individuals’ that aimed to use anti-Russian sentiment ‘to mobilise supporters of radical forces and damage the prestige of Tbilisi as a host country’.
They also called on Georgia’s ‘competent authorities’ to take the necessary measures to ensure a fair and non-politicised competition.
In turn, the Deputy Chair of the Russian parliamentary committee on physical culture and sport, Dmitri Svishchev, reportedly called the protest ‘an outrageous provocation by anti-Russian Georgian forces’, while also noting ‘traces of Ukraine’.
Previously, the President of the Georgian Fencing Federation, Meab Bazadze, told Formula TV that ‘we should separate sports from politics’, while also emphasising that it was the FIE who decided to include the Russian athletes in the competition.
‘I know they hold military ranks, but I’ve known these athletes for many years’, Bazadze said. ‘They are successful [athletes] and I’ve never seen them holding a gun’, he added.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
