It has not taken long for Vladimir Putin to go from the Winter Games to War Games.

Only a matter of days after the curtain came down on Sochi 2014, the smiley face was replaced with a menacing scowl as Putin mobilised his military minders now supposedly forming a protection force of Russian interests in Ukraine.

Had this happened shortly before the Winter Olympics and not immediately afterwards, what might have been the effect on the Games?

And what now might be the effect on the Winter Paralympics which begin this weekend?

At best there will be an air of tension. At worst, should things escalate, we could see some nations calling home their athletes, led by the United States who, lest we forget, were prime architects of the half-hearted boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980 when the then Soviet Union rolled their tanks into Afghanistan.

Let's hope not. The probability is that Putin is astute enough to hold his fire, so to speak, until the curtain closes on the Paralympic events. Though I wouldn't wager too many roubles on it.

It has taken just days for Vladimir Putin's smiley face to be replaced with a menacing scowl ©Getty Images



We know already that there is a political and diplomatic boycott of sorts, with many of the world's leaders who turned up in Sochi a couple of weeks ago pointedly steering clear of the Paralympics.

There will be no UK Government support for Team GB, as Prime Minister David Cameron has put the block on Sports Minister Helen Grant and her boss, Culture Secretary Maria Muller, zipping up their salopettes again.

He says that while the Government remains fully supportive of the British participants, it would be "inappropriate for ministers to attend in the current circumstances".

Prince Edward, patron of the British Paralympic Association, has also pulled out on the advice of Downing Street.

These are snubs Putin doubtless will shrug off more easily than had this all blown up before February 7, when the able-bodied Games opened.

As my insidethegames colleague Nick Butler has pointed out, the situation in Crimea is complicated and we should not rush into final judgement until we see exactly what Putin's intentions are.

But what is happening now is not something which anyone in sport can say is "nothing to do with us" because actually it is. Very much so. Quite a number of sports personalities are already involved.

Ukraine's former world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is not the only sporting giant to be currently embroiled in the confusing political struggle.

Sergei Bubka has urged both Ukraine and Russia to lay down their weapons in the interests of peace ©Getty Images



And while he was in Sochi, Sergey Bubka, the pole vault icon who heads Ukraine's National Olympic Committee, had urged both sides to lay down their weapons and halt the violence that is bringing the country to "the brink of catastrophe".

He said: "I pray and I appeal to both parties: stop violence, try to find the peace, keep us together to live in peace."

However, the Olympic gold medallist and prolific world record breaker, who for four years was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, now finds himself in an invidious situation.

Unlike Klitschko, he has been a supporter of the previous regime and has favoured strengthening ties with Russia; not a popular view in the current climate outside the pro-Russian Crimea.

He and Klitschko, though both national idols and products of the same Soviet sporting system, are not close because of their political differences. Bubka, 50, recently made an unsuccessful bid for the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee, whereas the 42-year-old "Dr Ironfist" has even loftier ambitions.

He quit boxing to become a prominent leader of Ukraine's protest movement and as a member of the interim Government is to run for the country's Presidency in the May 25 elections.

Intriguingly, Putin has wheeled out one of Russia's own heavy hitters in an attempt to counter-punch Klitschko's popularity. Nicolai Valuev, aka the Beast from the East, at 7ft an even more imposing figure than the 6ft 7in Klitschko, has been seen strolling around the city centre in Sevastapol, the Crimean capital.

Putin has wheeled out boxer Nicolai Valuev, who has been seen strolling around Crimea's capital ©Bongarts/Getty Images



The lumbering Valuev, 37, relieved of the WBA version of the world title by Britain's David Haye in 2009, was joined by fellow Russian Parliamentarian Irina Rodnina, 64, the former Olympic figure skater who was a gold medallist in three successive Olympics and lit the flame at Sochi's Opening Ceremony.

Rodnina, now very much a political activist, had attracted criticism after earlier tweeting a doctored picture of the US President and Mrs Obama which was deemed to be racist.

Clearly Putin is not averse to using sport or sports people as ammunition in this new Cold War, just as his Kremlin predecessors did in the old Soviet regime.

But the key sporting figure remains Vitali Klitschko.

He has wisely been keeping a low profile in Kyiv, no doubt realising that he may well be fighting for his own life as well as that of his country.

One enduring image was captured last month on TV screens around the world, showing his granite-like features covered in powder from a fire extinguisher as he came under attack while talking to protesters in Kyiv.

Now he appears to be keeping his own powder dry for his Presidential bid.

Klitschko, one of my all-time favourite fighters, was no mug in the ring. Neither is he out of it, conversing in four languages with a PhD in sports science, an astute political brain and a growing political fan base among fellow Ukrainians, not so much for who he is but for what he might be able to accomplish for his country.

So is he electable? Certainly, say both his brother Wladimir and their German manager Bernd Boente.

Vitali Klitschko, a popular figure in Ukraine, appears to be keeping his powder dry for a presidential bid ©Getty Images



"Vitali has never been involved in the so-called 'old' politics in Ukraine," says Boente. "He is incorruptible. He was never supported by any oligarchs or any strange people. The people know he made his money inside the boxing ring, not through some dark sources. That's a big, big plus.

"My feeling is that Ukraine is ready to accept Vitali as President, especially because of his reputation. Of all those running, he is the only one with a clear background, where people know how he made his millions. He has the right advisers and the right ideas and because he lived so many years in Germany and the US, he knows what a democracy means.

"This is his mission. He fights for democracy. He could lay on a beach and count his millions but that's not what his life is about."

Klitschko established the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (Udar) – which appropriately translates as Punch - in 2010, and although brother Wladimir is not a member he does vigorously endorse his campaign.

Wladimir, who stepped up to become the Olympic super-heavyweight champion in 1996 when Ukraine's first choice Vitali was suspended for failing a drugs test, now holds four versions of the World Championship. Five years younger than Vitali he is similarly erudite and dignified, and the more fluent of the two in English.

While he has never been as politically active, the recent upheaval in Ukraine has seen him interrupt his training for a title defence against the Samoan Alex Leapai in Germany next month to garner support in the US and western Europe for what he terms "peace, freedom and democracy in our homeland".

Wladimir Klitschko (right) says he is getting back in the boxing ring to fight for Ukraine's freedom and his brother Vitali's quest for peace ©Bongarts/Getty Images



He was in London last week where he declared: "Our fight for freedom is impossible without support from the West. So while my brother has been in Kyiv all this time working day and night for three months without any sleep, I have been talking to the West and obtaining influential supporters." Among these is ex-US President Bill Clinton.

"I am working on a few plans to help Vitali and my country. When I fight on 26 April I will also be fighting for him and for Ukraine. This could be the most important fight of my whole career. What can be more important than finding a way to keep your country united?"

For the first time, Vitali won't be in his corner when he fights little-known Leapai as obviously he has a much bigger fight of his own on his hands one month later.

The brothers talk on the phone every day "on all issues, personal and political", says Wladimir. In one of those conversations Vitali told him: "The whole situation is very dangerous. But I am still alive!"

Vitali's anti-corruption, pro-European platform has made him Ukraine's most popular politician. He is now said to be ahead in the polls for a Presidential race likely to be far fiercer than any of his 17 title fights.

Ironically the last of these, in October, was in Moscow, where he was enthusiastically applauded from the ringside by Putin. Now they are in opposite corners and we wait for the bell to ring.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.