The Russian official made the comments after insidethegames exclusively revealed that three people were ejected from the Ali Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Arena in Qatari capital Doha after they refused to remove the Ribbon of St George.

The orange-and-black emblem is viewed by many Ukrainians as a symbol of Russian aggression and is banned in several European countries.

A spokesperson for the International Judo Federation (IJF) told insidethegames that the individuals were thrown out and denied them entry for the rest of the tournament.

An image of the three fans wearing the Ribbon of St George was posted on social media by Ukrainian Olympic wrestling champion and Member of Parliament Zhan Beleniuk.

Speaking to Russia’s official state news agency TASS, Zhurova, an Olympic speed skating champion, suggested that organisers took action after they were made aware of Beleniuk’s post on Instagram.

"The organisers themselves would hardly have noticed the St. George ribbons," said Zhurova.

"Ukraine will always monitor such things and provoke similar situations in order to further achieve our isolation.

"At all the sites where Russian athletes still remain, provocations are arranged only by Ukraine.

"And it started even before the annexation of Crimea in 2014, after which the situation only worsened every year.

"The organisers therefore do not want the Russians to participate in the competition, because they fear that not even Ukrainian athletes, but specially trained people will provoke such situations in one way or another.

"Since they do not need such problems, they decide that it is easier for them to refuse participation of Russian athletes.

"It is quite clear that now we have seen another provocation from Ukraine, which is aimed at ensuring that we and the whole world dance to their tune.

"The only question is how long the world will endure this all."

Russian and Belarusian judoka had been banned in response to the invasion of Ukraine before the IJF decided last month to allow them to return as individual neutral athletes.

Ukraine responded by boycotting the World Championships - which counts towards qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics - in protest of the decision to readmit athletes from the two countries.

The Russian Judo Federation (FDR) claimed that "everyone" was "happy" with the return of the country’s athletes and insisted that "no one is determined to stir up a scandal" in a report by TASS.

When asked about the banning of the spectators, FDR President Sergey Soloveychik told TASS: "We learned about this incident only from the media, and, in my opinion, there is a provocative component in it.

"We are here for something else - we came to compete, to fight for medals.

"Our athletes have not competed for the last year, training day after day."

The IJF opted not to comment on the remarks made by Zhurova when contacted by insidethegames.