The nine members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, including Russia, are all competing and have been joined by several countries from outside the bloc.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, along with a squad of more than 400 from Russia, will be competing alongside teams from Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Cuba.

The Games, the first edition of which took place in Kazan in 2021, have gained extra significance following the suspension imposed by the International Olympic Committee on Russia and Belarus after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

"This is a landmark, bright event, confirming that sport is out of politics, and the benevolent open relations of Belarus and Russia towards athletes from the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, from friendly countries, are unchanged and especially significant," Dmitry Mezentsev, State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, told official news agency TASS. 

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko also took an opportunity to claim the presence of countries from outside the CIS showed that they disagreed with the IOC’s sanctions.

"The competitions demonstrate unity and strong friendship between our countries," he told TASS.

Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov claimed that the CIS Games would show the IOC and countries calling for his country to be banned from next year’s Olympic Games in Paris what they are missing.

"International sports officials, dutifully fulfilling the demands of the collective West, are destroying world sports with their own hands," he told Belarus’ official state news agency BelTA.

"But it is impossible to turn off the sun by closing the curtains and turning off the lights at home."

Russia’s Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin is expected to attend the Opening Ceremony at the Minsk-Arena tomorrow.

Among Belarus athletes expected to take part in the Opening Ceremony are double Olympic rowing gold medallist Ekaterina Karsten and Yanina Provalinskaya-Korolchik, winner of the shot put at Sydney 2000 but who was unable to defend her title at Athens 2004 after testing positive for banned anabolic steroids.

A total of 20 sports are on the programme of the CIS Games, which are due to conclude on August 13.

They include Olympic sports 3x3 basketball, archery, athletics, beach volleyball, boxing, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rhythmic gymnastics, shooting, swimming and weightlifting.

In addition, the programme includes non-Olympic sports like muaythai and sambo.

Competition started today with rhythmic gymnastics.