European pensions. support for Ukrainian refugees. Euronews report. kremlin propagandists

The 2026 Winter Olympics begin on 6 February in Italy. russian athletes are allowed to participate under a neutral status. The international sports community emphasises that russians should not be allowed to participate in the Olympics in any capacity, as this only perpetuates their aggression against Ukraine. Only 13 russians and 7 Belarusians will travel to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, a historic low for both countries. Formally, they are ‘neutral’ athletes. In reality, they are hidden propaganda for putin's criminal regime.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, most international federations suspended athletes from russia and Belarus (as russia's main accomplice in the war against Ukraine). However, over time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has eased sanctions, allowing participation in a neutral status if the athlete has not publicly supported the war and is not associated with the army or security forces. 
But for some reason, the IOC ignores the fact that russian sport is part of the military and propaganda machine. The vast majority of russian and Belarusian Olympians are reserve officers of the armed forces or representatives of clubs subordinate to law enforcement agencies and state bodies (in particular, CSCA and Dynamo). These same structures are directly involved in the war against Ukraine.
Statistics from previous Games:▪ Beijing 2022 – 88% of russia's medals (28 out of 32) were won by representatives of CSCA and Dynamo.▪ Tokyo 2021 – 63% of medals – CSCA, together with Dynamo – virtually the entire team.Even in Paris 2024, ‘neutral’ athletes won 5 medals – 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze – and russian propaganda presented these results as a ‘success for russian sport’, despite the absence of the flag.
‘Fake neutrality’:Figure skaters petro gumennyk and adelina petrosyan (admitted to the 2026 Olympics) openly support the russian terrorist army. gumennyk appeared in Soviet military uniform and participated in propaganda shows. petrosyan held master classes at the Summer in moscow festival, which openly supports the war and raises funds for putin's army. 
The formal absence of personal statements does not mean the absence of complicity. russia systematically violates the Olympic Truce (this principle provides for the cessation of hostilities during the Olympic Games) and Olympic values:▪ 2008 – war against Georgia on the opening day of Beijing.▪ 2014 – the start of the annexation of Crimea immediately after the end of the Sochi Olympics.▪ 2022 – full-scale invasion a few days after the end of the Beijing Olympics.
A neutral flag does not prevent the kremlin from using sport for propaganda, legitimising war and ‘whitewashing’ putin's criminal regime. Admitting such athletes is not about sport. It is about normalising aggression and ignoring the victims. As a result of russian aggression, 513 Ukrainian adult athletes and 21 child athletes have been killed.
Ukraine emphasises that any attempts to bring russia (or its accomplices) back to international sporting competitions will only encourage Moscow to continue its terrorist activities in various parts of the world.
On the eve of the opening of the 2026 Olympics, russia is intensifying its terror against Ukrainian civilians. In particular, on 1 February, an enemy drone struck a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, and in Dnipropetrovsk region, a bus carrying miners, with 15 people known to have been killed. In total, during January, russia launched more than 6,000 strike drones, about 5,500 guided aerial bombs and 158 missiles of various types at Ukraine.
▶ The main targets of the strikes were energy facilities, railways and other civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.▶ moscow's terrorist campaign against Ukrainian civilians is aimed at undermining the stability of Ukrainian society, weakening the economy and forcing Ukraine to make unacceptable concessions.▶ The aerial terror shows that russia is not interested in a peaceful settlement of the conflict. ▶ It is necessary to increase pressure on the kremlin and support for Ukraine in order to dispel russian illusions about the possibility of achieving its goals by military means.▶ Ukraine emphasises the need for constant sanctions and political pressure on moscow from the international community.▶ Systematic attacks, clearly aimed at leaving Ukrainians without electricity, heating and water during severe winter frosts, can be classified as a deliberate attempt to destroy Ukrainians as a national group. 
Therefore, these winter attacks by the russian army can be equated with the crime of genocide. Around 150,000 homes remain without light and heat for long periods of time in temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius. The world must also be prepared to counter russian disinformation attacks during the Olympics. Read about what happened in the summer of 2024 here.
russian propaganda has already launched a wave of disinformation aimed at discrediting Ukraine and Ukrainians in the international information space. In particular, over the past few days, russian media outlets have spread the following fake news stories:
1. “Italy has banned 120 Ukrainian security service agents who were supposed to ensure that athletes did not flee” — fake news spread under the guise of a story from a well-known British news agency.
2. ‘The granddaughter of a Ukrainian billionaire bought all the suites in three Italian hotels for €8 million’ — a false story, which Russian propagandists are using to back up a fake story from a French TV channel.
3. “Ukrainian authorities confiscated the passports of athletes’ relatives” — another fabrication by Russian propagandists that has no confirmation whatsoever.
All of these reports are completely fabricated. A characteristic feature of the campaign is that the fakes are disguised as ‘Western press stories,’ but they first appear in the russian Telegram segment, after which they are scaled up by a network of propaganda resources, including foreign ones. 
Fake: Ukrainian athlete was disqualified through terrorist symbols and portraits of military on a helmet.
russian media write that the helmet of the Ukrainian Olympic athlete Vladyslav Geraskevych is decorated with “symbolics of terrorist organizations” and “exclusively militants of the Ukrainian army”, and this is a gross violation of the Olympic principles and propaganda of war. And therefore the decision of the International Olympic Committee on the disqualification of the athlete is justified. 
In fact, there was no terrorist symbolism on the helmet of the Ukrainian skeleton Vladyslav Geraskevych (the question: “What is related to terrorist symbols?”). “Helmet of memory”, as Vladyslav himself called it, contains portraits of specific Ukrainian athletes who died as a result of a full-scale invasion of russia into Ukraine. There are also no text calls for violence, political slogans or military symbols on the helmet (e.g. chevrons of military units). This is a memorial object dedicated to the memory of colleagues athletes. 
“This helmet is quite special in this Olympics. It shows some athletes who died over the past four years. Some were also members of the Olympic movement, the Olympic family; some were still children who were under Russian shelling. These were people who were all his life closely related to sport,” commented the idea of a helmet athlete. Geraskevych believes that the world should remember these people and victims of Ukraine.
Radio Liberty journalists collected a list of 22 Ukrainian athletes who either died on the front or were killed during russian attacks. Among the dead is 9-year-old judoist Victoria Ivashko, who died due to a missile attack on Kyiv in 2023. Also there is a 13-year-old boxer and footballer Nazar Zui, who died during the bombing of Mariupol, 17-year-old champion of Ukraine and Europe in kickboxing Karina Bakhur, who died due to a russian missile attack in Kharkiv region. Among the images there are athletes who were part of the national team, but went to defend their country from russian aggression. 
The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine also officially confirmed that the design of the helmet does not contain discriminatory elements or advertising: “Ukraine has always respected, respected and respected Olympic values and adhered to the Olympic Charter”.
In addition, Geraskevych cited an example of other cases where athletes honored the memory of their relatives and loved ones at the Olympics-2026, but the IOC for some reason did not pay such attention to the Ukrainian.
Fake: Zelensky’s head office compromised IOC personal data after the incident with Geraskevich. 
russian media distribute video that the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov allegedly published in open access address and contacts of members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the last disqualified the Ukrainian skeleton Vladyslav Geraskevych. The English-language fake video is attributed to Reuters agencies. In fact, this information and the “reuters plot” itself are fictional. The video is a classic example of a fake video double, which russian propaganda constantly uses in its disinformation campaigns. Reuters Agency never published a video story that Kyrylo Budanov allegedly made public contacts of IOC members to take revenge on them.
The original story of Reuters dated February 13, 2026 is entitled "Geraskevich appeals to the Olympic disqualification with hope for a new "miracle on ice". In this video you can really see a video identical to the one that is distributed by russian sites. However, in the real story Geraskevyh tells that he had to go through a huge training path to be eligible to perform at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan. At the end of the video close-up show “Memory helmet” and the general frame of the press conference by Geraskevych after disqualification. 
The authors of the fake second part of the video completely invented and renovated with the addition of fake details about the “publication” of the head of the Ukrainian Office of the President, as well as the emblem of the Ukrainian military special units. The Ukrainian Centre for countering disinformation also denied this fake: https://www.facebook.com/protydiyadezinformatsiyi.cpd/posts/pfbid0mm6bCKzmuvTZdBgyiVCkG2vyzyGvBfp2JaEqbAtLMLnbixfnzMSqGSB6gqdQvBSFl
Based on materials from Spravdi.ua, Stopfake.org