'Incomprehensible' — Ukrainian athlete speaks out on rebuke for refusing photo with Russian competitor

Prefer on Google by Martin Fornusek Iryna Dombrovska (right) in a photo shared on April 28, 2026, by the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation. (Facebook) Ukrainian weightlifter Iryna Dombrovska said she was "shocked" to be reprimanded for refusing a photo with a Russian competitor, calling it "absurd" to claim sports are above politics as Russia's war against Ukraine continues. It was "incomprehensible, shocking, and absurd," Dombrovska told the Kyiv Independent on April 29 about being chastized by a European sports official during a competition last weekend. The athlete won bronze in the women's 77 kg category at the European Weightlifting Championships in Batumi, which concluded on April 26. After the national anthems, Dombrovska stepped down from the podium and refused to pose for a joint photo with silver medalist Varvara Kuzminova, a Russian competing as a "neutral athlete." Her decision sparked a confrontation with Astrit Hasani, president of the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF), who called her behavior "unacceptable." "Sport (is) above politics in our organization," Hasani is heard saying sharply to Dombrovska in a video shared by Ukrainian head coach Dmytro Sukhotskyi on April 25. Sukhotskyi said he was "disappointed" by the EWF's leadership position, noting that Dombrovska did not violate protocol, as rules do not mandate participation in joint photographs. The Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation publicly backed Dombrovska, issuing a statement that "any form of public pressure and inappropriate treatment of representatives of Ukraine is unacceptable." "Everyone knows, especially the president of the EWF, what is happening in our country and who is doing it," Dombrovska told the Kyiv Independent. Dombrovska, a 22-year-old native of Kirovohrad Oblast, competed in the youth championship last year and won three bronze medals in this year's European competition. "My refusal to take a joint photo with a representative of the aggressor country, a Russian, is completely obvious and justified." The Kyiv Independent has reached out to the EWF and Hasani for comment, but has not received a response at the time of publication. Dombrovska called "absurd" the argument that sports should be separate from politics when "(Ukrainian) athletes are dying on the battlefield" and Russia is destroying Ukraine's sports infrastructure. Over 650 Ukrainian athletes have been killed in Russia's all-out war, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in February. More than 800 sports facilities, including 20 Olympic and Paralympic training centers, were destroyed. In a separate incident in February, Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was barred from an Olympic Games competition after refusing to change his helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war. The IOC and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) ruled that the tribute violated competition rules. Talking to the Kyiv Independent, Dombrovska criticized sports organizations for again accepting Russian and Belarusian competitors, albeit as "neutral athletes." The International Weightlifting Federation, which includes the EWF, ruled in 2023 that Russian and Belarusian athletes may compete, but only as neutrals and not under their national flags. The decision, taken at the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee, was part of a wider trend of sports bodies relaxing restrictions on Russia imposed after its full-scale invasion in 2022. "Now they are allowed to go, perform, compete," Dombrovska said. "It is depressing because the war continues, and our country continues to be wiped off the face of the earth, while sanctions against Russian athletes are being relaxed."