The State Duma considered the words of ex-football player Mikhailichenko about the Russians a provocation.

The words of the former football player of Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR national team Alexei Mikhailichenko are a provocation. This was announced on April 29 by Olympic speed skating champion and first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Relations Svetlana Zhurova.

"We don't call them that. And we will never name them. Because we definitely won't sink to that level," she responded in an interview with Lenta.ru .

The parliamentarian stressed that such words are especially sad to hear from athletes. Zhurova also pointed out the riskiness of Mikhailichenko's words, stressing that after the lifting of sanctions, Russian and Ukrainian fans may clash.

She called the words of the football player a deliberate provocation and questioned the expediency of such actions. Zhurova noted that the main thing in this situation is that the fans do not want to recoup. She also recommended "responding in a gentlemanly manner" when Russia returns to big-time sports.

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A day earlier, Russian skiers Savely Korostelev and Daria Nepryaeva were included in the database of the Ukrainian extremist website Peacemaker. The portal reports that the reason for this was "an attempt on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," as well as public support for the Russian army in the framework of a special military operation.