Ukraine on Monday said it would appeal plans to hold the 2030 world weightlifting championships in Moscow, slamming the decision by the sport's governing body as "disgraceful" and "cynical" amid Russia's ongoing invasion.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said on Sunday that Moscow would host the 2030 event, becoming the first Olympic federation to hand Russia global staging rights since 2022 when the Kremlin ordered its troops into Ukraine.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have died, millions have been forced to flee their homes and parts of eastern and southern Ukraine have been decimated by fighting.
"As long as Russia continues its war against Ukraine, it is unacceptable to hold international competitions on its territory," Ukraine's Sports Minister Matviy Bidny said on social media.
He called the decision "especially cynical now, when, on the eve of winter, Russia is intensifying strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, killing people and threatening Europe".
Bidny said Kyiv was "preparing official appeals to the International Weightlifting Federation and the International Olympic Committee regarding the disgraceful decision".
No world championships in an Olympic sport, summer or winter, have been held in Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine.
The decision to name Moscow as the host comes in the wake of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcing a way back for Russian athletes to compete in international competition.
In July, the IOC eased restrictions on Russian athletes and opened a pathway for them to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Ukraine has filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) requesting that the IOC decision be annulled.
