LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Two more Russian athletes were approved by the International Olympic Committee to compete at the Milan Cortina Winter Games next month with neutral status.
The total is now five athletes with Russian passports and one from Belarus confirmed by the IOC as eligible for the Olympics that open Feb. 6. They will not have their national identity of team colors, flag or anthem and cannot take part in the opening ceremony athlete parades.
Short-track speed skaters Ivan Posashkov and Alena Krylova joined the list updated by the IOC late Monday.
The 21-year-old Posashkov competes in the men’s 1,000-meter event and the 23-year-old Krylova in the women’s 500 meters.
Neutral status can be given to athletes in individual events judged to have not actively supported their countries' full military invasion of Ukraine, and who are not contracted to the military or state security agencies.
Vetting is done first by a winter sports governing body and then verified by a panel of three IOC members, which includes former NBA star Pau Gasol.
The IOC previously approved Russian figure skaters Adeliia Petrosian — who is a strong medal contender — and Petr Gumennik, plus Nikita Filippov in ski mountaineering. Belarusian figure skater Viktoriia Safonova also passed checks.
More Russian and Belarusian athletes, including in Alpine and cross-country skiing, are likely to be added this month.
Russian athletes have returned to international winter sports competitions in recent weeks for the first time since the war on Ukraine intensified in February 2022, four days after the last Winter Games closed in Beijing.
Russia is still excluded from team sports like ice hockey at the Olympics, as it was at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
PARIS (AP) — French farmers steered some 350 tractors Tuesday over cobblestoned Paris avenues toward Parliament to protest low incomes and an EU trade deal with South America that they fear threatens their livelihoods.
Escorted by police, the tractors tangled rush-hour traffic as they rumbled down the Champs-Elysees and other Paris avenues, and then over the Seine River to reach the National Assembly.
Farmer anger in France and other European countries has escalated over a rash of challenges. The unions leading Tuesday’s protests said they are demanding ″concrete and immediate action″ to defend France’s food security.
French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on TF1 television Tuesday that the government would make new announcements soon to help farmers.
President Emmanuel Macron and his government oppose the EU-Mercosur trade deal, but it is expected to be signed in Paraguay on Saturday anyway, because it has the support of most other EU countries.
European farmers have long denounced the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, arguing that it would flood the market with cheaper imports.
Farmers drive their tractors down the Champs-Elysees avenue as they protest over the Mercosur trade deal Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. Banner reads: Mercosur, death for sure. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Farmers drive their tractors down the Champs-Elysees avenue as they protest over the Mercosur trade deal Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. Poster reads: Macron traitor. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Farmers drive their tractors down the Champs-Elysees avenue as they protest the Mercosur EU trade deal with South America they fear threatens their livelihoods, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. Poster reads: Macron, we arrive. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Farmers protest by the National Assembly as they protest against the Mercosur EU trade deal with South America they fear threatens their livelihoods, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. Banner reads: the peasant revolt resumes. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Farmers drive their tractors by the Arc de Triomphe as they protest over the Mercosur trade deal Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
