The International Olympic Committee has announced that it will greenlight a full return for Russian athletes at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, despite the fact that nothing much has changed with respect to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC declared that it was “provisionally” lifting the suspension of Russian athletes that had been in place since October 2023, under the flimsy pretense that the Russian Olympic Committee is no longer trying to control regional sports organizations in Ukrainian territory. Despite claiming that the IOC still opposes Russia’s attempts to conquer Ukraine, IOC President Kirsty Coventry claimed that it was hypocritical to ban Russia and not several African nations that are also conducting wars on their continent.