The British Cycling Federation has called on the UCI and the Union of European Cycling (UEC) to take stronger action against the Russian and Belarusian cycling federations and their officials in the wake of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the UCI announced that it would suspend the Russian and Belarusian teams indefinitely. However, British Cycling asked the UCI and the UEC to suspend the Russian and Belarusian federations and prohibit their officials from holding positions on UCI and UEC governing boards and committees.

"The UCI issued a statement confirming the important steps taken in response to the situation in Ukraine. [However, it has not suspended the Russian and Belarusian federations, and Russian and Belarusian officials are still allowed to hold positions on the UCI Governing Board and UCI Committees.

The UCI has ignored repeated requests from Cycling News to confirm whether Igor Makolov, honorary president of the Russian Cycling Federation, continues to serve on the UCI Administrative Committee, which met Tuesday to discuss Russia's response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Natalia Tsirinskaya of Belarus is a member of the UEC's governing board, and British Cycling announced that it would not send a delegation to this weekend's UEC Congress in protest.

"Our Russian and Belarusian cycling colleagues are not responsible for further aggression by Ukraine. In fact, they may be as appalled as we are. But in our view, it is simply wrong that Russian and Belarusian officials should be allowed a place of honor and influence at the highest level of our sport while our Ukrainian colleagues live in fear for their homes and families," read the British Cycling statement. [As a result, British Cycling will not be attending the UEC Congress in Odense this weekend, and I have written to the UCI and the UEC, requesting that the Russian and Belarusian federations be suspended and that Russian and Belarusian officials not be allowed to serve on the UCI or UEC governing committees, or any of their repeatedly requested that they not be allowed to do so.

Tsilinskaya is also the chair of the UEC's Women's Committee, while Russian Pavel Kostiukov is a member of the BMX and Olympic Discipline Committee and his countrywoman, Svetlana Denisenko, is on the Commissaire Committee.

In the UCI, Makarov is a member of the Steering Committee, Vyacheslav Ekimov is a member of the Pro Cycling Council, and three Russians serve on UCI committees. Russians Alexander Gusyatnikov is on the Road Committee, Svetlana Denisenko is on the Equipment and New Technologies Committee, and Victoria Lesnikova is on the Solidarity and Emerging Cycling Nations Committee.

British Cycling also stated that it "does not sanction the participation of teams or individuals representing Russia or Belarus in competitions organized by or sponsored by British Cycling."

"I am also acutely aware of the responsibility that British Cycling shares with the international cycling community to support our Ukrainian colleagues," Slevin concluded.

"With this in mind, I wrote yesterday to extend a hand of friendship to Andriy Grivko, president of the Ukrainian Cycling Federation, to offer all the support I can so that his athletes and officials can continue to represent their country.

Oleksandr Kulik, one of Ukraine's leading cycling coaches, was killed in Kiev on Tuesday during a military operation to help evacuate the city; UCI President David Lapartient paid tribute to Kulik in a tweet but made no mention of the Russian used an ambiguous euphemism rather than directly referring to the invasion of Ukraine, which was striking.

"Honorary Ukrainian coach Oleksandr Kulik tragically passed away yesterday amid the situation in Ukraine.

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