Verkhovna Rada decides what to do with Kharlan and the Russian woman who tried to frame the Ukrainian at the Fencing World Cup

Verkhovna Rada has registered a draft appeal to the parliaments and governments of democratic countries, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and international sports federations calling for the condemnation of the illegal disqualification of Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan by the International Fencing Federation (FIE). The author of the draft resolution No. 9554 is Ukrainian MP Andriy Kozhemiakin.

The legislative initiative was co-authored by Zhan Beleniuk (Servant of the People), Anatoliy Kostyukh and Vasyl Mokan (both from the Servant of the People), and Hryhoriy Surkis (Platform for Life and Peace).

The text published on the VR website states that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine fully supports the worthy act of our Olympic champion and strongly condemns the shameful decision of the FIE to disqualify the Ukrainian athlete, and calls on the FIE to

• completely cancel the disqualification of Olga Kharlan and officially apologise to her;
• bring to justice all persons involved in the decision to disqualify Olga Kharlan;
• to disqualify the Russian athlete Anna Smirnova for life for a provocative act contrary to the Olympic spirit.

During the discussion, the Committee members noted that since the decision of the International Fencing Federation did not overturn the disqualification of Olga Kharlan, but only suspended its decision and confirmed its correctness, i.e., it still considered her guilty, this leaves the possibility of repeating similar provocations in fencing and other sports whose rules require a mandatory handshake or bow.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova in the 1/32 finals of the 2023 World Championships in Milan. After the fight, our compatriot refused to shake hands with her opponent, who staged a real circus, refusing to leave the track.

The Russian representative lodged a protest against the outcome of the duel, which was rejected. The propaganda TV channel Match TV published a photo of the denunciation that Anna Smirnova had written against Olga. As a result, the FIE disqualified Kharlan from the 2023 World Cup, but suspended its decision the next day.

Our sabre fencer herself said that the decision to exclude her from the tournament simply killed her.

It is worth noting that Smirnova is not a "neutral" athlete, as required by the competition regulations. The representative of the aggressor country's brother is a military officer, and she is very proud of him, as can be seen from their joint photos.

Following the loud publicity in the world media, the IOC also responded to the scandal by making a sensational decision regarding the Ukrainian.

Later, video evidence emerged that Kharlan had been disqualified after Russian pressure on the tournament organisers

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