How are Paris and Ukrainian athletes preparing for the Olympics, given the participation of Russians and the overall political situation at the Games?
Andriy Shkil, a journalist, political commentator, and member of the Verkhovna Rada of the IV – VI convocations, spoke about this on Hromadske Radio.
“The people most affected by the preparations for the Olympics are the residents of Paris. Many Parisian streets are blocked, making them impassable. To access certain areas, you need to have a special QR code.»
Regarding the situation with the Russians at the Games, Shkil commented:
“Our foreign minister was active here—100 people from Russia were not allowed to cover the Olympics. They tried to get here as «journalists,» as representatives of the press services of some Russian federations, or as «independent observers.»
When asked why these people were not allowed to cover the story, Shkil replied: “Espionage activities»:
“And activities that could interfere with the Olympic Games, including cybercrime. This could involve installing programs that would block the work of the Games and demanding money for it, and so on. It was clearly stated that such activities exist. In general, people who wanted to apply through sports federations or any institutions associated with the Olympics—4,340 people were denied access to the Games. They simply submitted an application, were checked, and were not allowed. It is assumed that there will be many more such people, but not all applications with rejections have been considered.»