Secretary of State Marco Rubio applied a velvet glove to the Trump administration's still-clenched fist during his high-profile speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, offering some reassurance to uneasy European leaders that the US remains committed to their long-standing partnership but without backing away from its underlying demand that they change course on a number of fronts. Rubio's message that Washington is not looking to abandon the transatlantic alliance was well-received by European allies in the audience who just one year ago sat stone-faced as Vice President JD Vance stood at the same podium and delivered a broadly false desecration of Europe's culture and values. It carried a warning from the Trump administration that it would “do this alone” unless Europe assumes more responsibility for its own security and shares the same values as the US — a shift that requires reforming the current system of international cooperation. “We want allies who can defend themselves so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength,” Rubio said. “For we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline. President Donald Trump has often criticized Europe for relying too heavily on US assistance, particularly when it comes to security, and demanded that NATO allies increase defense spending. More broadly, Trump has also vowed to disrupt the international status quo and, one year into his second term, has done exactly that at remarkable speed. Rubio's speech comes as US allies have increasingly grown concerned and questioned whether the country intends to abandon its partnership with Europe due to Trump's threats of retaliatory tariffs, bid to take over Greenland and pullback of international aid. Vance's speech at last year's Munich Security Conference exacerbated concerns as he vented to European leaders, telling them the biggest threat to their security came “from within,” rather than from China and Russia — remarks that have formed the White House's black-and-white national security strategy. Vance's words were still ringing in the ears of European officials as they arrived this week in Munich, where many have focused on the end of the US-led international order — one of the few points of agreement between Washington and its NATO allies. “A divide has opened up between Europe and the United States,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday ahead of Rubio's speech. “The United States' claim to leadership has been challenged, and possibly lost,” he said. Rubio acknowledged as much on Thursday as he departed for Munich, telling reporters that “the old world is gone, frankly” and that “we live in a new era in geopolitics.” “While we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference  and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe,” Rubio told the audience in Munich. Rubio acknowledged that the US can, at times, be somewhat “direct and urgent in our counsel,” but sought to reassure European leaders that the Trump administration is committed to the alliance. “We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization, and who together with us are willing and able to defend it,” he said. Rubio's tone was in stark contrast to that used by Vance a year ago.

Wall Street Journal says Claude used in operation via Anthropic's partnership with Palantir Technologies Claude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during its operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday, a high-profile example of how the US defence department is using artificial intelligence in its operations. Anthropic was the first AI developer known to be used in a classified operation by the US department of defence. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment on whether Claude was used in the operation, but said any use of the AI tool was required to comply with its usage policies. The WSJ cited anonymous sources who said Claude was used through Anthropic's partnership with Palantir Technologies, a contractor with the US defence department and federal law enforcement agencies. The US and other militaries increasingly deploy AI as part of their arsenals. Israel's military has used drones with autonomous capabilities in Gaza and has extensively used AI to fill its targeting bank in Gaza. Critics have warned against the use of AI in weapons technologies and the deployment of autonomous weapons systems, pointing to targeting mistakes created by computers governing who should and should not be killed. This more cautious stance has apparently rankled the US defence department, with the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, saying in January that the department wouldn't “employ AI models that won't allow you to fight wars”. The Pentagon announced in January that it would work with xAI, owned by Elon Musk. The defence department also uses a custom version of Google's Gemini and OpenAI systems to support research.

As medical neglect and abusive treatment threaten those imprisoned, DHS prepares for a massive expansion of detention. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size. President Donald Trump's anti-immigration agenda has supercharged opposition in cities where he has deployed federal agents to conduct raids, and communities in states including New York and Missouri are already working to block the next step the Department of Homeland Security plans to take in its push for mass deportations: acquiring massive warehouses across the country to use as immigrant detention centers. US immigration and Customs Enforcement documents that were provided to Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire — one of the states where ICE aims to acquire a building and retrofit it to house at least 1,000 people at a time — show that the administration plans to spend $38.3 billion on its mass detention plan. It would buy 16 buildings across the country to use as “regional processing centers” that could hold 1,000-1,500 people. “That's what Trump is spending to turn warehouses into human holding facilities. Medical neglect and abusive treatment — including some that amounts to torture — has been reported at multiple facilities. Communities are already rallying against the plan and questioning whether the small towns ICE has selected have sufficient water and sewer infrastructure to support thousands of people detained in a warehouse. “The site in my district that's proposed is owned by one of Trump's multibillionaire donors, who would directly financially benefit from this site,” said Ryan, referring to former Trump adviser Carl Icahn. “I'm telling you, we are not going to let this happen in my district.”@PatRyanUC is pushing back on the Trump administration's plan to buy warehouses across the country to turn them into mass detention centers, including one in his New York district. As Common Dreams reported Friday, private prison firm GEO Group raked in a record $254 million in profits last year as it secured contracts with the Trump administration to build new ICE facilities across the US. has also joined his constituents in speaking out against ICE's $100 million purchase of a warehouse in his state to house at least 1,000 people at a time. “This administration is spitting in the face of communities from Minneapolis to Maryland and wasting our tax dollars. We won't back down,” said Van Hollen late last month. Trump's ICE just purchased a warehouse in MD for $100M to hold 1,000+ detainees.Last week, I joined Marylanders demanding that ICE stay out.This Admin is spitting in the face of communities from Minneapolis to Maryland & wasting our tax dollars.We won't back down. The details of the administration's planned conversion of warehouses were reported less than two weeks after Pablo Manríquez of Migrant Insider revealed that a US Navy contract originally valued at $10 billion “has ballooned to a staggering $55 billion ceiling to expedite President Donald Trump's ‘mass deportation' agenda” and to help build “a sprawling network of migrant detention centers across the US.” At Common Dreams last week, talk show host and author Thom Hartmann wrote that the warehouses Trump plans to use to hold people — purchased by an agency whose own data shows it has largely been detaining people with no criminal records — are best described as concentration camps like those used in Nazi Germany. “By the end of his first year, [Adolf] Hitler had around 50,000 people held in his roughly 70 concentration camps, facilities that were often improvised in factories, prisons, castles, and other buildings,” wrote Hartmann. “By comparison, today ICE is holding over 70,000 people in 225 concentration camps across America,” with hopes to “more than double both numbers in the coming months.” “Germany's concentration camps didn't start as instruments of mass murder, and neither have ours; both started as facilities for people the government's leader said were a problem. Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that's why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

This academic year, for the first time, Italy extended university scholarships to more than 180 students from Gaza. If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation. The Italian Universities for Palestinian Students project offers a unique lifeline for young students whose academic futures were destroyed in Gaza. Since October 2023, nearly all of Gaza's universities and schools have been bombed, leaving students struggling to access education. Back in August 2025, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education reported that more than 18,000 Palestinian students had already been killed since October 2023, and the deaths have continued to mount since then. I am one of the more than 180 Palestinian students who fled to Italy from Gaza through the new Italian Universities for Palestinian Students program. Since arriving in Italy, I have interviewed three other Palestinian students who also recently arrived through the Italian Universities for Palestinian Students project. Tarek Al Farra, 23, worked as a storyteller and teacher for children in Gaza's tents after their schools were destroyed. While in Gaza, he was documenting the war on Instagram, capturing his experiences of displacement, hunger, and loss. Arriving in Turin, Italy, has given Al Farra the chance to save his future and start to share his experiences in a safer environment. For Palestinians, however, happiness almost always comes at a price. I left my parents suffering in tent life,” Al Farra said during our interview. He completed his bachelor's degree in English translation at Al-Azhar University in Gaza and had a clear plan for his future. When I did the interviews with these three brave students, it was a rainy day in Gaza. Starting a new life in Italy has meant adapting to different cultures, people, and places. Al Farra set his previous dreams on the shelf and began down a path shaped by circumstances rather than choice. “Economics is not my career,” he said, “I had no luxury to choose.” For Fares, the Italian Universities for Palestinian Students program is more than just a scholarship — it is also the vehicle through which he hopes to receive medical treatment and heal enough to return to his normal life after almost two years of living between hospitals and tents. “I am not only here to study,” Fares said, “I am here in order to receive the treatment I could not find in Gaza.” Fares's situation clarifies that the Italian Universities for Palestinian Students program is not only an educational initiative, but also a humanitarian mission that restores some of the rights and opportunities taken from Palestinian in Gaza. Because evacuations take place on different dates — due to the scale and complexity of the missions — Fares left Gaza before Tarek. “I felt terrible leaving before my older brother,” Fares said. Fares was accepted to study political science at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy. He completed his high school education in Gaza before the war and had never experienced studying or attending classes in a university setting under normal circumstances. Alongside his studies, he must also manage ongoing medical treatments abroad. “People see my opportunity as the best possible outcome,” Fares said. “But they do not understand how hard it is to carry both visible and invisible pain.” Students who receive scholarships abroad often face pressure to appear happy, satisfied, and grateful. However, it is very hard to do so when their hearts are still broken. “I need to be very careful before explaining my feelings.” Yahya Hassan Nasrallah's story illustrates another aspect of evacuation from Gaza. His story is a bit different: He had totally forgotten that he had once applied to study in Italy, seeing it as a possible ticket to survival. He had applied for the Italian Universities for Palestinian Students program in May 2024, and then the war became even harder and more devastating. Nasrallah had previously had a chance to leave Gaza before the war through a different program, but at that time he refused. However, his feelings started to change after living in Gaza became an experience of constant suffering. “Maybe I forgot, but God doesn't,” he said. Nasrallah left his family in Gaza — as all the students did. “It was like a flashback of everything I experienced with my family,” he said. Nasrallah has now begun a new chapter in Bari, Italy. “I feel myself again, finally,” Nasrallah posted on Instagram when he marked two months in Italy. When I did the interviews with these three brave students, it was a rainy day in Gaza. “I am trying to bridge the gap between them and me,” Nasrallah said. “I hate when they ask me about my routine,” Fares Al Farra added. These are just a few perspectives from three of the 180 Gazan students now in Italy. We must make the impossible possible for Gaza and Palestine. We urge universities, organizations, and individual projects to continue supporting students from Gaza like Fiori Dai Cannoni and the Italian Universities for Palestinian Students program do, so that many students from Gaza can access education, safety, and a chance to rebuild their future. As Trump cracks down on political speech, independent media is increasingly necessary. Truthout produces reporting you won't see in the mainstream: journalism from the frontlines of global conflict, interviews with grassroots movement leaders, high-quality legal analysis and more. Help Truthout catalyze change and social justice — make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation today. This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the following terms: Her work has appeared in The Intercept, Al Jazeera English, TRT World, Drop Site News, The Independent, Truthout, Prism, and other platforms. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day.

The great ones make it look so easy that we forget how hard it is to be exceptional. Secretariat running like a machine in the Belmont and Michael Phelps gobbling up gold medals in 2008; Tom Brady engineering seven Super Bowl victories and Simone Biles coming back for more golds after battling the twisties; Carl Lewis winning golds in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996 and Katie Ledecky lapping Olympians like she's out for a rec league swim. There is, however, a fragility to true excellence. What Ilia Malinin failed to do in his free skate at these Olympics and what Mikaela Shiffrin has struggled to do at her last Games and in her first event here do not erase anything that they have accomplished elsewhere. Alas, the reality of sports demands that true greatness is measured only on the biggest stage, where the physical strength and innate talent gifted to every superior athlete takes a backseat to mental fortitude. It is true for every athlete in every sport, the delineation between having an asterisk – the greatest who never won – to just being the greatest. But reaching that singular plateau is especially tricky for Olympic athletes. Like Malinin and Shiffrin, they can achieve record-setting numbers in the off years between the quad cycle only to have it all rendered irrelevant by one misstep in the Games. Ilia Malinin seemed at ease carrying the weight of Olympic expectation on his shoulders – until he wasn't In the course of her track career, Mary Decker Slaney set 17 official and unofficial world records and became the first woman to run a sub 4:20 in the mile. Even now, more than 40 years later, the lasting image of her career is of Decker laying on the track in anguish and tears after colliding with Zola Budd in the 1984 Olympic 3,000-meter run. Shiffrin, who has succeed and failed in three Games prior to this one, talked about the unique spotlight of the Olympics before racing here. But she's also smart enough to understand that's not how it works. Kentucky won 38 games in 2014-15 and lost one, but the one came in the national semifinal to Wisconsin. ”I really chose to believe that it's a beautiful gift, despite maybe feeling a little bit of pressure at times,'' Shiffrin said. “Knowing that judgments can be made on the sole moment when there's so much else that has gone into the course of the last four years, in the last eight years and 16 years of my career so far, so pressure can exist. Billie Jean King said pressure is a privilege, but maybe that doesn't always feel that way.'' “It's not like any other competition,'' Malinin said. It is a strange tightrope if you think about it – to be so incredibly gifted that everyone presumes you will win, and yet in that very presumption is the biggest obstacle to keep you from winning. With apologies to Thanos, both Malinin and Shiffrin seemed inevitable here. Malinin took the ice in Milan having not lost a competition in more than two years. He held a commanding five-point lead heading into the free skate, a gap that only widened while his challengers skidded and fell before him. Average “Quad God” would have earned him a gold medal. Instead, Malinin popped his quad axel, the beginning of four minutes that started to feel like rubbernecking a car accident. His failure in real time was somehow more jaw-dropping for its unexpected underperformance than his usual quad-popping is for its overperformance. “All the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head,” he said later. Malinin now has four long years to determine if this moment defines his career or not, something Shiffrin understands all too well. She failed to finish three races and didn't medal in the others. Much like Decker left on the track, Shiffrin's lasting imagine from 2022 was of her sitting in the snow, as if unsure what had just happened. Mikaela Shiffrin's disappointing start to 2026 Winter Games heightens the pressure on one of the greatest skiers of all time Gifted a first-place cushion by her downhill partner – gold medalist Breezy Johnson – Shiffrin, much like Malinin, only needed to be herself to secure gold. With 108 World Cup victories on Shiffrin's resume, 71 of them in the slalom, even her US teammate Jacqueline Wiles figured the day was as good as done. She finished 15th out of 18 skiers, her worst finish in more than 13 years and the tandem of Johnson and Shiffrin went from gold medal favorites to off the podium. Taken in a vacuum, it would have been mystifying. Combined with Shiffrin's horrific Games in Beijing four years ago – three DNFs and three finishes off the podium in six events – it was fair to question if she had a sort of Olympic block. It left her with real trauma response and even when she returned to competition two months later, she struggled in the faster GS than in slalom. She went 12 races without reaching the podium, from January 2024 to the last GS race prior to the Olympics in January of this year, where she took bronze. “I'm at a point now where I'm excited to ski fast in the GS,'' she said. “There's maybe, you know, five turns in the course where I'm thinking that's enough. And that might not be anything about mental. If that doesn't go well, there is the slalom on Wednesday.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a lethal toxin derived from the skin of poison dart frogs, five European countries said Saturday. The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analysis of samples from Navalny, who died two years ago, “have conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.” It is a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America that is not found naturally in Russia, they said. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said “Russia saw Navalny as a threat. Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe, died in the Arctic penal colony in February 2024. Navalnaya has repeatedly blamed Putin for Navalny's death, something Russian officials have vehemently denied. Navalnaya said Saturday that she had been “certain from the first day” that her husband had been poisoned, “but now there is proof.” Russian authorities said that the politician became ill after a walk and died from natural causes. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent attack he blamed on the Kremlin, which always denied involvement. Five months later, he returned to Russia, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned for the last three years of his life. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found, according to a statement released by five countries, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. The intelligence agencies claimed laboratory testing found that the deadly toxin in the skin of Ecuador dart frogs (epibatidine) was found in samples from Navalny's body and probably resulted in his death. The statement adds: “Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin to target Navalny during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and we hold it responsible for his death.” There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny's body.” Although it had been widely assumed that Navalny had been poisoned by the Russian state, the evidence of the specific poison in his body is a new development. His wife, Yulia Navalny, posted in September that there was evidence of poison in his body at the time an autopsy was conducted. Yulia wrote in a post on X that the named poison “causes paralysis, respiratory arrest, and a painful death. I was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with [a] chemical weapon. He must be held accountable for all his crimes.” The death of Alexander Litvinenko in London from radioactive polonium in 2006, the nerve agent attack on the former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, and a previous poisoning attempt on Navalny have cemented Russia's reputation for resorting to toxins to silence critics and defectors. The UK added: “We know the Russian state now used this lethal toxin to target Navalny in fear of his opposition.” His wife, after some hesitation, made a short address to the conference in 2024 saying: “I would like Putin and all his staff, everybody around him, his government, his friends, I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country. The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia. “Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin's barbaric plot to silence his voice. The UK has also led claims about Russian troops' frequent use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. In it statement the UK said it was clear Russia did not destroy all its chemical weapons as claimed in 2017, and that it has not renounced biological weapons, as it is obliged to under the biological and toxin weapons convention.

MUNICH, February 14. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that India had assured Washington of its "commitment" to refrain from buying Russian oil. "The United States has imposed additional sanctions on Russia's oil. In our conversations with India, we've gotten their commitment to stop buying additional Russian oil. Europe has taken its set of steps moving forward," he said at the Munich Security Conference. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that no one besides US officials had spoken about India possibly halting Russian oil imports. He added that the Indian government never made such statements.

An Indian citizen has pleaded guilty to plotting the murder of a US-based Sikh separatist, the US Office of the Southern District of New York said on Friday. Nikhil Gupta admitted to paying $15,000 to a person he believed was a hitman to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). New Delhi considers SFJ, which advocates for the secession of the Indian state of Punjab to form an independent country called Khalistan, to be a “terrorist” group. “Nikhil Gupta plotted to assassinate a US citizen in New York City,” US attorney Jay Clayton said on Friday. “He thought that from outside this country he could kill someone in it without consequence, simply for exercising their American right to free speech. He pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, all of which carry a combined maximum prison sentence of 40 years. Indian National Pleads Guilty in US to Failed Murder Plot Against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun Nikhil Gupta, 54, has pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to three charges tied to a plot to kill the SFJ leader.Gupta was arrested in June 2023 in the Czech Republic and later… pic.twitter.com/5c7wwsuX1s US prosecutors claim that Gupta was directed by an Indian government official to carry out the plot to murder Pannun, who regularly makes violent threats to India on social media. Pannun's SFJ is among several Khalistan outfits banned by the Indian government that primarily operate outside India in countries with significant Sikh diasporas. Read RT Privacy policy to find out more.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. BRICS is not a military union and there are no plans to transform it into one, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has told TASS. "I would like to remind you that BRICS is not a military union and not a collective security organization with collective defense commitments. It has never been planned as such, and there are no plans to transform it for the purpose," he said. "As far as the recent naval exercise in South Africa is concerned, BRICS members participated in it as sovereign nations. It was not a BRICS event," he added. When asked whether BRICS can somehow safeguard commercial ships of its members from attacks, he said the group had no collective mechanisms for the purpose, "other than improving logistics and ensuring greater protection from sanctions." "This is not the task that we have set for ourselves. This security needs to be ensured by other means," he added.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect details on the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling on Feb. 13, which upheld the disqualification. Wearing a helmet commemorating Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia is not allowed, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled on Feb. 12. Vladyslav Heraskevych, Ukraine's skeleton racer, was scheduled to compete in his third Olympic Games on Feb. 12. He was barred from taking part in the competition after refusing to change his helmet, one depicting the faces of Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia's full-scale invasion. "This is the price of our dignity," Heraskevych, 27, wrote on Instagram after being informed — a few hours before his Olympic run — that he had been disqualified. Among them are former competitors who left their sporting careers to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as civilians killed in Russian attacks. Some were children, at the very start of their careers. "Plain, simple respect for them is exactly what I wanted to give." Heraskevych believed he had not violated Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which bans demonstrations or political, religious, or racial propaganda at Olympic venues. The spontaneous display soon grew into a flash mob, with Ukrainian soldiers and public figures adding their support for Heraskevych. At the same time, other Ukrainian athletes have spoken out about similar restrictions imposed by the IOC. Freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar said she was barred from wearing a helmet that depicted the following words: "Be brave like Ukrainians." Likewise, short-track speed skater Oleh Handei said he was prohibited from wearing a helmet that read — "where there is heroism, there can be no final defeat" — a verse written by the renowned Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko. Canadian skier Jessica Linton also carried a personal message on her helmet, "I ski for Brayden," and displayed it to the cameras after her run, likely in memory of moguls skier Brayden Kuroda, who passed away in 2020. Heraskevych slammed the IOC's stance as a glaring case of "double standards" and continued to wear his helmet during official training sessions. Yet, he never wore it during an official race. The committee also said Heraskevych's case was distinct, describing it as a deliberate and premeditated act, in contrast to the "spontaneous" expressions seen from other athletes at the 2026 Olympics. "If everyone is allowed to express themselves in that way, beyond a black armband, it could turn the field of play into a field of expression," Mark Adams, IOC spokesperson, said during a press briefing on Feb. 12. "And even if one agrees or disagrees with the sentiments, you can see how that could lead to a chaotic situation," he added. The committee also said that it had offered Heraskevych alternatives, such as wearing a black armband and displaying his helmet before and after the race, but the athlete rejected these proposals. "No one is disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message of remembrance, it is a message of memory, and no one is disagreeing with that," IOC President Kirsty Coventry told journalists on Feb. 12. I really wanted to see him race today. Vadym Guttsait, president of Ukraine's National Olympic Committee, told the Kyiv Independent that the entire Ukrainian team supported Heraskevych's actions and did not expect him to be suspended. Ukraine's political leaders also expressed their support for Heraskevych in wake of the IOC's decision, with President Volodymyr Zelensky thanking Heraskevych for his "clear stance." "His helmet, bearing the portraits of fallen Ukrainian athletes, is about honor and remembrance. It is a reminder to the whole world of what Russian aggression is and the cost of fighting for independence. And in this, no rule has been broken," Zelensky said. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha echoed similar comments, calling the incident a "moment of shame." Heraskevych's team appealed the IOC's decision in an international arbitration court. In an ruling on Feb. 13, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Milan dismissed Heraskevych's appeal, upholding the disqualification, ruling that Heraskevych's gestures violated competition rules. They deserve it," Heraskevych said before leaving the Olympic village. Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 1,000 supports us financially. One membership might not seem like much, but to us, it makes a real difference. If you value our reporting, consider becoming a member — your support makes us stronger.