Anisimov resigned from the position due to family reasons, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The 71-year-old oversaw five judo medals - including three golds - at the London 2012 Olympics and a triple medal haul - two of which were golds - at Rio 2016.

Russian athletes, under the neutral banner of the Russian Olympic Committee, claimed another three Olympic judo bronzes in Japan last year.

The election is said to have taken place during a "regular meeting".

Soloveychik thanked his predecessor for his service and confirmed the body would not waver from developing Russian judo.

"First of all, I want to thank Vasily Vasilyevich Anisimov for the fact that all 12 years that he was at the head of our federation, he led it as a wise comrade, friend and colleague to every athlete, coach, employee of the federation," the 57-year-old told TASS.

"During his leadership, the federation has achieved great heights, especially in the Olympic movement."

He continued: "I regard the election to this position as a responsible job.

"The strategy of the federation does not change, its main directions are the development of elite sports and the development of the mass judo movement.

"And we will try to do our best in each of these areas."

Russia's participation in International Judo Federation (IJU) competitions is expected to be at the forefront of issues Soloveychik faces.

The IJU Executive Committee decided to ban Russian, and Belarusian, athletes from its global events until January 2023.

It was one of the few Olympic International Federations to not completely follow the International Olympic Committee's recommendations to ban athletes from the two countries following the invasion of Ukraine.

Instead, it ruled that they could compete as neutrals under the IJF flag, anthem and colours.

However, Ukraine boycotted the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam event in Mongolia and the country had threatened to do the same again for the upcoming World Championships, due to take place in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent from October 6 to 13.

Anisimov, while still serving as President, declared that Russians would not be present at the marquee event in a show of solidarity with compatriots in other sports that had been prohibited from competition.

The invasion forced Soloveychik, who was a vice-president of the IJF, to step down as President of the European Judo Union (EJU) on February 28, a position which he had held since 2007.

He resigned as head of the EJU on February 28 following the invasion of Ukraine.

German official Otto Kneitinger took over on an interim basis before Hungarian László Tóth was elected in June.

Soloveychik was also President of the Moscow Judo Federation from 1998 to 2000.