MOSCOW, February 27 The Ukrainian national foil fencing team refused to compete against the Russian team in the 1/8 finals of the team tournament at the World Cup stage in Cairo. The Ukrainian foil fencers were given a technical defeat. In the 1/4 finals, the Russians will meet with the winner of the confrontation between the Poles and the Japanese. Anton Borodachev, Kirill Borodachev, Vladislav Mylnikov and Iskander Akhmetov announced for the Russian team at the World Cup stage in Egypt. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special Russian military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that the circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the LPR and the DPR.
