Ukraine's team has pulled out of the World Taekwondo Championships, because of the presence of athletes from "aggressor countries" Russia and Belarus ©WTCBAKU

Ukraine’s team has pulled out of the World Taekwondo Championships, due to begin later this month, due to the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Ukrainian Taekwondo Federation vice-president Serhii Vasylchenko confirmed the country’s team were withdrawing, citing the presence at the Championships of "athletes from aggressor countries" and "military personnel."

"Russians and Belarusians have already been declared there," said Vasylchenko, as reported by Tribuna.

"At first, the application had a column like ‘not national’, that is, there is no nationality, so they did it cleverly.

"Any site administrator can complete this list at his own request.

"That is, they initially made the count without nationality, and now it is already clear that athletes from the aggressor countries are registered.

"Some of them are military personnel.

"We are now collecting facts to confirm this.

"Thus, the team does not go to the World Championship."

Speaking about Ukraine’s decision to boycott, People’s Deputy of Ukraine and London 2012 Olympics triple jump bronze medallist Olha Saladukha said: "This is another of our national teams, which is boycotting large-scale international competitions due to the participation of aggressors there.

Olha Saladukha accused federations and organisers who were not concerned at the absence of Ukrainians as not being "clean of hand and clean of conscience" ©Getty Images
Olha Saladukha accused federations and organisers who were not concerned at the absence of Ukrainians as not being "clean of hand and clean of conscience" ©Getty Images

"As we can see, the previous demarches of national teams from various sports do not significantly affect the situation. There are no Ukrainians - no problem?!

"This is obviously the opinion of various federations and organisers who are ‘not clean in hand and conscience.’

"At the level of all departments, we must intervene in the situation, help Ukrainian federations to convince the organisers of such competitions of the harmfulness of their position.

"The admission of Russians, Belarusians, and especially military personnel from these countries, even under a neutral flag, is support for killings and destruction in Ukraine.

"And the responsibility for this should be felt by every sports official in the world who chooses to cooperate with the aggressor.

"We should also demand an explanation of the shameful situation from the International Olympic Committee and International Federations."

Ukraine boycotted this month’s World Judo Championships in Doha, Qatar, due to the presence of judoka from Russia and Belarus.

Arman Adamian was hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin following his victory at the World Judo Championships, which Ukraine also boycotted due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes ©Getty Images
Arman Adamian was hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin following his victory at the World Judo Championships, which Ukraine also boycotted due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes ©Getty Images

Russian and Belarusian judoka competed as individual neutral athletes in Doha, with Arman Adamian winning gold in the men’s under-100 kilograms category and his compatriot Inal Tasoev claiming a silver medal in the men’s over-100kg category.

Follow his victory Adamian was hailed by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for the "leadership" he showed on the way to taking gold.

This year’s World Taekwondo Championships are due to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 29 to June 4, with athletes from 144 countries set to compete.

World Taekwondo is currently assessing whether Russians Maksim Khramtsov and Vladislav Larin can compete at the Championships, after they openly supported the war in Ukraine.

insidethegames has contacted World Taekwondo for a comment.