Russian junior skaters return to the international stage after four years
Russian junior figure skaters are expected to return to the regular international competition system of the International Skating Union in August, for the first time since the exclusion introduced in the spring of 2022. The first event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix season will be held from August 20 to 22, 2026, in Xi’an, the capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The official entry list for the men’s competition includes Lev Lazarev, while Arsenii Fedotov has been entered as a substitute competitor. Both are marked in the ISU documentation with the code AIN2, which is used for neutral athletes associated with Russian members of the international federation. Their appearance will therefore not represent the return of the Russian national team under state symbols, but the controlled inclusion of individuals under special neutrality rules.
The competition in Xi’an has broader significance than merely marking the beginning of a new junior season. It will be the first practical test of the decision adopted by the ISU Council on June 30, 2026, when it partially eased the measures applying to skaters associated with the federations of Russia and Belarus for the 2026/27 season. According to the official decision, athletes may participate in ISU events and other international competitions only as neutral competitors, without a flag, anthem, national uniform or other state symbols. The ISU stresses that permission is not automatically granted to an entire group, but that the eligibility of each athlete and accompanying staff member is assessed separately. Xi’an will therefore demonstrate how the new rules will operate in an everyday competitive environment, outside the narrowly restricted Olympic qualification process used during the previous season.
Lazarev is the main Russian participant, Fedotov has substitute status
The official entry list for the junior men’s competition confirms that Lazarev is the main competitor within the Russian neutral quota, with Fedotov as his replacement. The designation "S" next to Fedotov’s name means that he will not compete automatically, but may be added to the lineup if the main representative withdraws or if the entry is amended in accordance with the organizer’s rules and deadlines. On the same list, the ISU distinguishes between AIN1, for skaters associated with the Belarusian member, and AIN2, for athletes associated with Russian members. This administrative designation allows organizers and the public to identify the origin of the entry, but it does not constitute a national designation in a sporting sense. In results, ceremonies and official presentations, the athletes appear as neutral individuals.
Lazarev arrives in Xi’an with strong results from the domestic junior system. The Russian Figure Skating Federation announced that in February 2026 he won the national junior title for the second time, finishing ahead of Fedotov, who placed second. According to the same source, Lazarev performed five quadruple jumps in the free program, including a flip, lutz, salchow and combinations featuring quadruple elements. Such technical content places him among the most ambitious young skaters of his generation, although results from domestic competitions cannot simply be transferred to the international rankings. In Xi’an, for the first time after a long period of isolation, he will have to adapt his program to an international technical panel, a different judging lineup and direct competition against leading juniors from Asia, Europe, North America and other parts of the world.
According to the profile of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Lazarev was born on November 1, 2009, and trains at the Moscow school named after Sergei Zhuk, under the guidance of Sergei Davidov and his professional team. Fedotov was born on September 27, 2009, and the federation lists him as a member of Moscow’s "Hrustalni" school. Both will be 16 years old at the time of the tournament, which further emphasizes the distinctive nature of the entire case: these are athletes who spent most of their junior development without the opportunity to compete in the regular international series. Their experience within the domestic system may be extensive, but international points, familiarity among judges and adaptation to travel remain areas in which their peers from other countries have had significantly more opportunities.
The four-year suspension began after the 2022 decision
The ISU introduced the protective measures in April 2022, following the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Communication No. 2469 prevented skaters and officials associated with ISU members in Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions, while those countries were also stripped of the possibility of organizing events under the auspices of the international federation. At the time, the ISU described the measures as protective, aimed at the safety of participants and the integrity of competitions, rather than as individual disciplinary sanctions. Nevertheless, the consequence was the complete absence of Russian juniors from the Grand Prix series, the World Junior Championships and other competitions at which international experience, points and status are acquired. The return in August 2026 therefore comes approximately four and a half years after the exclusion began.
It is important to distinguish the return of juniors to the regular calendar from earlier, considerably narrower exceptions. During the 2025/26 season, the ISU allowed a limited number of individual neutral athletes to participate in events connected with qualification for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. That model involved a special vetting procedure, additional conditions and a small number of places, and therefore did not amount to the restoration of normal participation by Russian and Belarusian members in all categories. In its explanation of the new decision, the ISU states that it considered the experience of neutral athletes in the Olympic qualification system and at the 2026 Games, during which, according to the federation, no related security incidents were recorded. On the basis of that assessment and the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee from December 2025 and May 2026, the ISU Council decided to expand participation opportunities beginning with the 2026/27 season.
Neutral status involves individual vetting
The rules for the 2026/27 season are more precise than the general formulation that an athlete "must not be associated with the military." According to ISU Communication No. 2804, the right to compete may be denied to a person who is currently in active service in the armed forces or a national security agency of Russia or Belarus. The disqualifying criterion also applies to those found to have actively participated in military operations in the war against Ukraine since February 2022 or to have actively and publicly supported that war. The assessment is conducted individually and on the basis of evidence, while the decision is made by the ISU Council or an independent body entrusted with the process by the Council. A person whose status would be rejected must be given an opportunity to respond and may use the appeal mechanisms provided by the federation’s rules.
Every neutral athlete and accompanying staff member must sign a special declaration. In it, they agree to participate without a flag, anthem, national uniform or other symbols and undertake not to use the competition for political messages. The document authorizes the ISU and its Skating Integrity Unit to conduct checks and subsequently monitor compliance with the conditions. Signatories also undertake to comply with ethical, safety and anti-doping rules, including obligations enforced by the International Testing Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency. If a violation of the conditions or the submission of false and misleading information is subsequently established, neutral status may be withdrawn and disciplinary proceedings may also be initiated.
Because junior competitors are often minors, the rules also contain a special section concerning the consent of parents or legal guardians. A minor must confirm that they understand the conditions in an age-appropriate manner, while the guardian must authorize participation and the processing of data required for vetting. This provision is particularly relevant to Lazarev and Fedotov, who will still be under the age of 18 during the tournament in China. In this way, the ISU is attempting to combine legal obligations, the protection of minors and the requirements of neutral status in a single procedure. However, the federation does not publish all details of individual checks, meaning that the complete files on the basis of which each athlete was approved are not currently available to the public.
Without a flag and anthem, but entries are still submitted by national members
Neutral participation does not mean that athletes operate entirely outside the existing federation system. The ISU states that, under competition rules, entries for its events must still be submitted by the relevant members of the international organization. The skaters present themselves on the ice as neutral, but the administrative entry procedure, deadlines, medical documents, travel information and other organizational matters are processed through the member that nominates them. The same applies to accompanying staff, who may also be subject to neutrality vetting. This arrangement creates a model in which a national institution is required for formal entry, while the national team is removed from the public presentation of the athletes.
The restrictions do not apply only to ceremonial symbols. The signed form prohibits political expression at events, while the ISU retains the right to continuously monitor conduct and security circumstances. The federation has announced that it will ease the measures further only if it determines that there are no problems threatening the safety or integrity of competitions. If incidents occur, the restrictions may be reintroduced or tightened. For that reason, the status of Lazarev and other neutral athletes cannot be regarded as a permanently and unconditionally restored right, but rather as participation under a regime that remains subject to continuous review.
Officials from Russia and Belarus are not yet returning to international competitions. In its clarification of the decision, the ISU states that judges, controllers, technical specialists and other officials remain outside the readmission process for the time being and that no date has been set for their return. The international federation says that it is developing a possible pathway for their future inclusion, but that during the 2026/27 season it will first monitor the effects of the athletes’ return. There is also no timetable for the resumption of ISU competitions in Russia or Belarus. The return is therefore limited to competitors and approved accompanying staff, rather than representing a full restoration of the institutional role of the two federations.
Xi’an opens a seven-event season
According to the ISU calendar, the 2026/27 Junior Grand Prix season will contain seven qualifying events. Xi’an will be followed by tournaments in Riga, Bangkok, Ankara, Batumi, Ljubljana and Gdańsk, while the Grand Prix Final will be held in Chongqing from December 10 to 13. Xi’an is one of the events that includes all four disciplines: men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance. The organizer is the Chinese Figure Skating Association, and the main competition will be held at the QuJiang Sports Complex. The official announcement specifies a standard-sized 60-by-30-metre ice rink, while a separate center is designated for training sessions.
The Junior Grand Prix is not merely a series of separate tournaments, but a key development platform for athletes moving from national systems toward world championships and the senior level. Results at the events provide points important for qualification to the Final, as well as international scores that allow coaches to make more realistic comparisons between programs. For Lazarev, Xi’an will therefore simultaneously represent a contest for a result and an initial measurement of his technical value in an international environment. His domestic successes create high expectations, but they do not eliminate the uncertainty associated with his first international entry, possible changes to the lineup and the final confirmation of all organizational conditions. Entry lists may change before the tournament, so his appearance remains officially planned but is not irrevocably guaranteed.
A return that will be monitored beyond sporting results
In sporting terms, the inclusion of Russian juniors may alter the competition in disciplines in which the Russian system has traditionally produced technically highly advanced young skaters. Four years without international appearances, however, have created a generation without the usual record of results at ISU competitions. This affects world points, initial quotas, travel experience and familiarity with differing judging standards. Because of an absence lasting more than three years, the ISU decided that initial quotas would be calculated on an objective basis, comparable to members returning after a long break, rather than according to the former strength of Russian teams. In the men’s competition in Xi’an, this is reflected by one main neutral representative and one substitute skater.
Away from the ice, every appearance will be viewed as a test of the balance between the rights of an individual athlete and the responsibility of international institutions in wartime circumstances. In its documents, the ISU reiterates that it continues to condemn armed conflicts and states that it continues to provide financial assistance to Ukrainian skaters, including displaced athletes and programs of the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation. At the same time, it argues that an athlete’s eligibility should not be determined solely by citizenship, but by individual conduct and evidence. Such an approach remains the subject of differing political and sporting interpretations, particularly because international federations do not always use identical neutrality models. In Xi’an, therefore, the implementation of the rules that enabled the return will be just as important as points, jumps and placements.
For Lazarev, the upcoming tournament is an opportunity to convert his domestic reputation into an international result, while Fedotov, as a substitute, must remain ready for a possible change to the entry. For the ISU, the event is the first visible step in a broader process of controlled readmission of Russian and Belarusian skaters during the 2026/27 season. For the other competitors, it is an encounter with rivals who have been absent from the shared system for years but have continued to train and compete domestically. The ultimate significance of the return will not be determined solely by the standings in Xi’an, but also by the way the neutral regime functions throughout the entire season. The first event in China therefore opens a new sporting chapter, but without removing the political, legal and security conditions that accompany it.
Sources:
- International Skating Union – official page for the Junior Grand Prix Xi’an 2026 competition, dates and organizational documents (link)
- International Skating Union – official entry list for the junior men’s competition, including Lazarev and Fedotov (link)
- International Skating Union – Communication 2804 on the readmission of neutral athletes and eligibility criteria (link)
- International Skating Union – questions and answers on neutral status, quotas, officials and security monitoring (link)
- International Skating Union – 2026/27 season calendar and schedule of the seven Junior Grand Prix events (link)
- Russian Figure Skating Federation – results of the 2026 junior championship and information about Lazarev’s technical program (link)
- United Nations – official overview of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the General Assembly resolution (link)