Russian Communist Party Leader: Disqualifying Our Paralympics Team Is Part of the West's Full-Scale War of Extermination against Us

Speaking on the Russia 1 special talk show devoted to the decision by the Olympics authorities to disqualify the Russian Paralympics team, Russian MP Gennady Zuganov, head of the Russian Communist Party, said that the West was waging "a full-scale war... against us - a war of total extermination," and that the decision to disqualify the Russian Paralympics team was part of this war. "Only scoundrels could take it out on our Paralympics team," he said.

Gennady Zyuganov: "We must realize that a full-scale war is being waged against us - a war of total extermination. This is no secret. On the one hand, we have responded in the military-political sphere. The (West) sees this in Syria, in Donbass, and elsewhere. So in this field, they act with caution. In terms of economic sanctions, we are looking for the way out, although it is painful. In the field of sports, on the other hand, they did not succeed in ousting our core Olympics team. Everything was premeditated and well prepared - from German (anti-doping) films to the (Olympics anti-doping) commissions. Even so, they did not succeed. The heads of the Olympics Movement understood that if the (Russian) team drops out, even though it took at least second place in 12 out of 18 games, this would devalue the Olympics Movement as a whole. But only scoundrels can take it out on our Paralympics team. I've read that even their ally, US presidential candidate Trump, said that this decision could have been made only by mental invalids..."

Interviewer: "If only he'd really said that... But unfortunately, that's not true."