MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Over 200 sports tournaments were organized across Russia, including in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, in the period between April 30 and May 10, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said in an interview with TASS on Thursday.

The high-ranking official noted that large-scale sports events in Russia enjoy high interest among the country’s citizens, despite currently imposed international sanctions against the Russian sports.

"We are implementing the order of the Russian president, voiced in April at the Council meeting of the Physical Culture and Sport, that [sports] tournaments should be oriented at all age groups as well as they should be accessible and interesting for people with various levels of their physical training shape," Chernyshenko, who oversees issues of sports, culture and tourism in the Russian government, said.

"Over 55,000 people took part in sports tournaments - both at the professional and amateur levels - during May holidays," he said. "This figure includes not only Russians, but guests from other countries as well."

"For instance, the rhythmic gymnastics international tournament in Moscow gathered athletes from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium and France," Chernyshenko continued. "The 4th edition of the Eurasian Martial Arts Games in the under-27 age category gathered over 3,500 participants from 50 regions of Russia as well as from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Ossetia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, India, Egypt, Iran and the African countries."

On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments referring to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

Following the IOC recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

Russia’s military operation in Donbass

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.