The FIA’s decision to lift its restrictions on Russian and Belarusian drivers has been met with surprise and shock. While those countries are understandably pleased with the verdict, others in Eastern Europe like the Baltics and Ukraine were in disbelief.

As of this article’s publication, the Automobile Federation of Ukraine has not released an official statement. Still, its personnel and racers have expressed horror about the news.

“What happened? What changed this time? Did Russia stop killing Ukrainians? Maybe they stopped destroying motorsport here,” Valeriy Tereshchenko sarcastically asked. He won the 2021 Ukrainian Rally Championship in the 2WD class, the series’ final season before the full-scale Russian invasion began a year later.

About a week after the so-called “special military operation” launched, the FIA implemented emergency measures that prohibited teams from Russia and allied Belarus from competing internationally unless they agreed to condemn the war and not use their respective countries’ emblems. The policies were overturned by the World Motor Sport Council on August 3 before being submitted to all ASNs on Thursday, fully allowing the affected to race under their countries’ flags. Most Russians were celebratory, while KAMAZ-master issued a more general statement on how it will “continue to monitor the situation and the FIA’s decisions.”

Besides questioning the ban’s lifting to begin with, the Latvian Automobile Federation wondered why the decision was made without consulting other ASNs. The LAF only found out when the ruling went public 11 days later.

“The Latvian Automobile Federation was not involved in making this decision and considers this type of action, where the decision is made secretly and announced post factum, to be an unacceptable practice for any international sports organization,” the LAF stated. “The decision applies only to international competitions organized by the FIA and is not binding for national federations, who continue to operate in accordance with their national legislation.

“The Latvian Automobile Federation unequivocally condemns Russia’s war in Ukraine and believes that the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions with their national flags and anthems is categorically unacceptable and immoral. The Latvian Automobile Federation will continue to work strictly in accordance with Latvian legislation, Cabinet regulations, and the Sports Law. We also call on other national sports federations and FIA member states to express their position on this issue and renew sanctions against Russia and Belarus.”

Latvia and its Baltic neighbors are among Ukraine’s staunchest allies. In Lithuania, Dakar veteran Benediktas Vanagas called the announcement a “step backwards. The position is simple: as long as ruzzia continues its aggression against Ukraine, their representatives should have no place anywhere, especially in international sports. Sport has power, and with that power comes responsibility to decide the message we send.”

The misspelling of Russia is intentional on his part (the lowercase “r” being embraced by Ukraine in informal contexts and the double-z to represent the letter’s use as a symbol by the Russian military), and he previously referred to Russians with pejoratives such as “Moskals”. Vanagas is one of the most outspoken figures in the rally raid world about the war, frequently donating equipment and rally tires to Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian officials within the FIA were likewise perturbed. One rally steward noted, “This situation has puzzled a lot of people, not only in Ukraine.”

He’s pessimistic about getting it changed back because the verdict came down from the WMSC, and went as far as to compare the council and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to embattled FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.

“I’m sure that nothing will change this situation. It was created at the very top of the FIA,” he opined. “Certainly not for no reason either. I imagine the president of the federation was influenced by the Russians.”

As much as the latter sounds like a conspiracy theory, it does hold some water. Former Dakar winner Sergei Kariakin has actively spoken about writing letters to Sulayem to reconsider the restrictions, while Russian officials like Sverdlovsk Oblast foreign economics minister Vyacheslav Yarin met the president during the 2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Still, the steward stressed that “I can’t confirm it at this point. There is a regime of complete secrecy there. All decisions of the World Council are covered by NDAs.

“Certain actions are being prepared. We’ll see.”

Featured image credit: Anton Elikov / KAMAZ-master