While not significant on the international scale, the International Practical Shooting Confederation, IPSC has sanctioned Russia. This is response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that continues to rage at this time.
Statement by the President of IPSC
Dear IPSC family,
We condemn the breach of peace committed by the Russian government.
At this morning’s extraordinary Executive Council Meeting the following actions were decided:
1) That the 2023 Action Air World Shoot scheduled for Sochi, Russia is cancelled.
2) That all future international matches (Level III and above) scheduled in Russia have been cancelled and have their sanctioning removed.
Best regards,
Vitaly Kryuchin
IPSC President
What this Means for Russian Shooters
Because IPSC has sanctioned Russia, only club level matches will occur. This took several matches off the calendar right away. Furthermore, the growing sport of Action Air Shooting is very popular in Russia, which now won’t occur.
It will also be difficult for Russian shooters to travel outside of their country to attend matches. Today, Russia closed its airspace to 36 countries, including every country in the European Union. This could complicate travel for Russian shooters trying to attend the 2022 World Shoot in Thailand this year. Although Thailand isn’t on the list of no-fly countries, getting a direct flight from Russia to Thailand is likely quite difficult.
As of right now, IPSC hasn’t sanctioned Russian athletes. This means members can still participate in events. This is good news for Maria Gushchina, the defending women’s world champion, and the best female action shooter on the planet.
On an interesting note, the President of IPSC, Vitaly Kryuchin, is Russian. Since IPSC has sanctioned Russia, I wonder if he’ll face any backlash from his country over this. While most people would think that a tiny shooting sport sanctioning a country wouldn’t be something Putin cares about, you never can tell when it comes to wannabe-dictators.
