Russians creates unit of athletes to participate in war against Ukraine

Russia has created a special unit of athletes, including participants in martial arts tournaments, to take part in the war against Ukraine. The unit is sponsored by state-owned companies. 

Source: Vazhnyie Istorii (Important Stories), National Resistance Centre 

Details: The media reported that Sergey Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of the Administration of the Russian President, and Yuriy Trutniev, the first deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, created the Soyuz (Union) unit to participate in the war, which included "the best of the best in their respective sports disciplines". 

The unit was formed on the basis of the Russian Union of Martial Arts (RUMA), which is headed by Kiriyenko and Trutniev. They announced this in December 2022.

A year later, by December 2023, 145 people had joined the unit.

The publication reports that Soyuz, in particular, includes Viktor Horn, the winner of the World Cup in Kyokushinkai (a form of karate), Sergey Plekhanov, Japanese kickboxing champion. It also included the late European Kyokushinkai champion Sergey Uvitskyi.

The fighters were trained and coordinated at the Russian University of Special Forces in Chechnya.

According to financial documents available to the publication, in 2022-2023, Rosatom and its subsidiary transferred 123 million roubles (USD 1.3 million) to Soyuz, Sberbank transferred 50 million (USD 538,000), RusHydro – 60 million (USD 645,600), Lukoil – 50 million (USD 538,000), VTB – 25 million (USD 269,00). From the Trutniev Group, the largest donation to the RSBI - 80 million (USD 860,800) - was made by the Magadan-based security company White Wolf.

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