An athlete's advocacy body has accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of "enabling" and "kowtowing" to Russia by allowing 20 Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Winter Olympic Games.
The 13 Russian and seven Belarusian athletes are competing at Milano Cortina as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).
International athlete advocacy body Global Athlete has written an open letter to the IOC, which stated that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has "weaponized" (sic) sport "as a tool of state propaganda, using athletic success to legitimize (sic) an unlawful and devastating war".
The letter accused the IOC of playing into Putin's strategy, calling the decision to allow the neutral athletes "a political act with real-world consequences".
"Now is the time for sport to show leadership, not weakness," the letter said.
"The global sporting community must stand together and demand that the IOC increase sanctions on Russia, not relax them.
"The peaceful nation of Ukraine needs support, not enablers."
The IOC originally banned Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, just weeks after the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The ban applied during the Paris Olympics, although 32 AIN athletes were allowed to compete under the same conditions as the 20 athletes in Italy.
The neutral athletes compete under a teal flag with an AIN emblem and will not have their anthem played if they win a medal.
Belarusian athletes are included in the ban because of their country's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The athletes allowed to compete were vetted by the governing body of their sport having demonstrated that they don't have links to the Russian military or support the war in Ukraine but Global Athlete claimed the vetting process is inadequate.
"These athletes have been developed, trained, and funded through Russian and Belarusian state sport systems that remain deeply intertwined with military and state apparatus," the organisation said in its letter.
"Many continue to train in state-funded facilities and receive support from national sport structures.
"Russian state media will celebrate every AIN medal as a Russian victory, regardless of whether a flag is raised.
The Kremlin controls the narrative domestically, and a neutral status provides no barrier to propaganda exploitation.
"History has already shown us that "neutral" designations don't work: Russian athletes competing as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games were still celebrated as national heroes and used to bolster Putin's image," the letter said.
Global Athlete accused the IOC of reintegrating Russia into the international community without accountability.
"The fact that the IOC is easing restrictions against Russia suggests that even under the new presidency of Kirsty Coventry, it remains influenced by the very political forces it claims to stand apart from," it said.
"The Olympic Movement claims to stand for peace, unity, and respect, but promoting the idea that the Olympics can unite the world through sport ignores the reality that an active war is ongoing.
"Attempts to present international competition as a unifying gesture, absent meaningful change on the ground, reduce these values to slogans rather than standards."
Global Athletes also called on athletes, sponsors and sporting officials from other nations to sign the letter.
The IOC's decision to continue to allow the AIN athletes to participate at the Winter Olympics follows its recommendation to allow Russia's youth athletes to participate in the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar later this year.
Swimming's governing body, World Aquatics, has also lifted a ban on Russian youth athletes.
Last week at an IOC meeting in Milan, Ms Coventry said without referring directly to Russia that "we are a sports organisation."
"We understand politics, and we know we don't operate in a vacuum," she said.
"But our game is sport … that means keeping sport a neutral ground."
Ukraine's minister of youth and sports, Matvii Bidnyi, said changing restrictions on Russian athletes would send the wrong message.
"It looks like you want to legitimise this evil," Bidnyi said, referring to supporters of bringing Russia back into future Olympic Games.
[sports newsletter]"We must keep this pressure until this war ends."
ABC Sport asked Global Athlete whether it also considered taking a similar stance against other international aggressors.
Global Athlete director-general Rob Koehler said the organisation acted on behalf of athletes when they specifically asked for support.
"In the case of Russian and Belarusian participation in international sport, we have received extensive requests from athlete groups, particularly from Ukrainian athletes, asking us to advocate on their behalf and amplify their concerns," Koehler said.
He said the organisation had not been contacted by athletes about other military acts of aggression.
