MOSCOW, February 27 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has condemned the statement of the Russian grandmaster Sergey Karyakin on the situation in Ukraine. On Sunday, Karyakin published a statement on Twitter in which he supported the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin to conduct a special operation in Ukraine. Sergei Karyakin and Sergei Shipov to the Ethics and Discipline Commission,» the statement posted on the organization's website reads. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and on February 24, Russia launched a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In response, Western countries began a new round of the sanctions spiral, which has been unwinding since 2014. In particular, several major banks of the Russian Federation fell under the new restrictions, sanctions were imposed on the supply of high-tech products to Russia, a number of European countries closed the sky for Russian airlines. The Russian authorities said they had prepared a plan of action in advance in case of a new wave of sanctions and would provide any necessary support restricted businesses, ensuring the smooth operation of the economy. The Russian authorities are also working on retaliatory measures, the details are not known, while there were only announcements from the Federal Air Transport Agency about the closure of the sky for airlines of countries that banned flights for Russian carriers.
