Chernyshenko was the President and chief executive of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi and was awarded the Gold Olympic Order by IOC President Thomas Bach following the end of the Games.

Bach called the Games "a great success" and praised the Russians for providing "seamless organisation", labelling them "the athletes’ Games", before it emerged they had been badly scarred by a Russian state-sponsored doping programme.

The IOC also awarded the Olympic Order, established in 1975 to mark distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, after Sochi 2014 to Dmitry Kozak, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister at the time of the Games.

But now, Chernyshenko and Kozak have been stripped of their Olympic Orders following the invasion by Russia of Ukraine, along with Putin, awarded the honour in 2001 after the IOC Session in Moscow.

It is the first time in Olympic history that anyone has been stripped of the Order.

Among others awarded the Olympic Order are Nicolae Ceaușescu, the former dictator of Romania known as the "Butcher of Bucharest", who, shortly before he was overthrown in 1989, ordered the massacre of thousands of his citizens.

Erich Honecker, the former leader of East Germany and accused of human rights abuses, is another recipient of the Olympic Order. 

Both Ceaușescu and Honecker received their awards in 1985 from then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. 

"The IOC takes its decision to present the Olympic Order on merits directly related to the Games," Chernyshenko said.

"Just as it does medals to competitors in the Games themselves. 

"In Russia only five people, including the President, have therefore been presented with the Golden Order.

"Unlike the proper decision that took place in advance of awarding these honours, the impulsive posturing behind their revocation simply aligns the Olympics to political ends, undermining the spirit of the Games and the never-before-seen success of the Sochi Games.

"The IOC has opened a Pandora’s box to be exploited by historical revisionists, and all sport should be concerned by its eager willingness to do so."

The 53-year-old Chernyshenko has held several roles since Sochi 2014 ended, including a spell as President of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and chairman of Gazprom-Media, which owns several television and radio stations in Russia.

He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in 2020 with a portfolio that includes tourism, sport, culture and communications.

Chernyshenko is also a member of the Board of Russian Railways, which led last night to the European Union (EU) adding him to its sanctions list.

Russian Railways has been one of the main facilitators of moving troops to the Ukrainian border, the EU claimed.

It alleges that means Chernyshenko "is responsible for actively supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine."

The sanctions include an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities, as well as a travel ban to prevent them from entering or transiting through EU territory.

Other prominent Russians on the EU sanctions list include Alisher Usmanov, the President of the International Fencing Federation who today stepped aside and was described by the EU as "one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite (sic) oligarchs".

Gennady Timchenko, chairman of the KHL Board of Directors, is also on the list published last night having been placed under sanctions by the United Kingdom Government last week.