And here it is. A triumph of a hundred years of propaganda, convincing people that every country, every government is just as bad as Russian one, that democracy doesn't work and west is just better at hiding it.
Let me tell you one thing. My country has plenty of experience with both Russian (respectively Soviet) tyranny and actually being a free, democratic country allied to the "western" governments. My parents and grandparents lived through both and have had plenty of first-hand experience to compare, so it's not just "propaganda", but actual experience saying this: Russia is just messed up. Whether we're talking about personal freedoms, participation in governing the country or economic factors, those forty years being a Soviet proxy were hell compared to either interwar republic or post-Soviet times. Not every country is hell-bent on dominating others like Russia, not every country has so messed up pseudo-fascist political system and while in some "western" countries, democracy barely works...even at its lowest it's much better than being Russian satellite.
Now to the topic at hand...I support Ukraine and I support the removal of Russian sportspeople from international competitions and other measures taken against Russian propaganda, but not things like this.
Russia inherited and happily continues Soviet propaganda traditions, among which is considering international sports competitions primarily as a propaganda outlet where they can show dominance over other nations, rather than a fair competition between individuals or teams. This thinking led to creation of organized, state sponsored doping in Soviet Union, which Russia continues, as evidenced by quite recent, unprecedented penalties to Russia on the international scene.
Since the war began, we've seen several cases where individual Russians used their time in the spotlight to support the Russian invasion. And I'm fully supportive of measures taken to remove the Russian propaganda. But this game isn't going to be that. It's taking place before the Russia began the hostilities in 2014, and no mercenary is affiliated with Putin's regime. There's no reason to take such measures.