IOC decides to withdraw Olympic Orders given to Putin, Chernyshenko and Kozak

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The orders awarded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to Russian President Putin, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak, must be returned to the committee, the IOC press service said on Monday.

"The IOC EB has, based on the exceptional circumstances of the situation and considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past, taken the ad hoc decision to withdraw the Olympic Order from all persons who currently have an important function in the government of the Russian Federation or other government-related high-ranking position," the report said.

The awards include the orders awarded to Putin in 2001 and to Chernyshenko and Kozak in 2014.