The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the United Nations to address what it has described as “ethnicity-based discrimination” within the Olympic movement.

In October 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in response to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. As a result, Russian athletes can only compete as neutrals in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. They also will be barred from participating in the opening ceremony and will not be included in the overall medal standings.

However, despite numerous pleas from Kyiv, Russian athletes will not be required to sign any documents denouncing their country's invasion of Ukraine to be eligible for competition.

In response to Russian athletes not being allowed to compete under the national flag, Moscow has repeatedly accused the IOC of discrimination based on nationality.

Speaking on July 1 at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Stanislav Kovpak, chief counsellor at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Multilateral Human Rights Cooperation, claimed that the IOC’s decision to ban the Russian Olympic Committee goes against the “historical mission” of sport, which he described as “rooted in its unifying and reconciliatory spirit.”

“Major international sporting events, including the Olympic Games, play an important role in encouraging tolerance and respect for human rights. Everyone should have an opportunity to enjoy the same advantages and joys of sports, regardless of their ethnic and national background, political views or beliefs,” Kovpak said, arguing that the IOC’s decision is a result of “political interference” in sports. The diplomat also criticised countries for using "alleged human rights violations" – likely alluding to Russia’s massacre of hundreds of Ukrainian citizens in Bucha – as a justification for boycotting certain events.

"The politically motivated suspension of a country’s national Olympic committee undermines the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Collective punishment and suspension violate obligations under the Olympic Charter, which concern the need to ensure justice and fair treatment for individuals” he continued.

Kovpak also stated that the Olympic Games’ decision to ban Russian athletes is “collective punishment,” in violation of the Olympic Charter.

“Double standards, segregation and ethnicity-based discrimination pursued by the international sports leadership, including international Olympic organisations, are an affront to basic human rights. We urge the United Nations high commissioner for human rights and her office, as well as special agencies, to give this issue the attention it deserves," Kovpak concluded.