Western hopes of a mass exodus of athletes from the country did not materialize, Oleg Matytsin said Russian athletes have shown unity in the face of bans imposed on national sports over the conflict in Ukraine, with most of them taking “the right and patriotic stance,” Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has said.

A small-scale protest, staged by families of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, including members of the notorious neo-Nazi Azov regiment, was held in the heart of Kiev on Friday. The demonstrators gathered on Independence Square (Maidan), urging Ukraine’s authorities to build a national military cemetery.

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