The former head of the RBU summed up the results of the first races of the Russian Biathlon Cup

Belarusian biathletes competed with the Russians in the Russian Cup, former RBU President Vladimir Drachev said in an interview with RBC Sport. Drachev also noted that Irina Kazakevich, who won the women's sprint, was a pleasant surprise in today's race.

“All the guys had a good race. The competitive moment here, of course, is already secondary. The season is over, there are no more international starts. It's good that the Belarusian athletes came, they brought additional competition. Irina Kazakevich was a pleasant surprise in the women's sprint. Let's see what happens next with her results," Drachev said.

Biathlete Irina Kazakevich won the sprint race at the Russian Cup stage in Ufa. She did not miss a single shot on the shooting range and covered the distance of 7.5 km in 23 minutes and 22.8 seconds.

In the men's sprint, the first and second places were taken by representatives of Belarus Anton Smolsky and Dmitry Lazovsky. Russian Alexander Loginov came third to the finish line.

These are the first races at the All-Russian competitions in the current season, in which athletes from Belarus take part. The Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) allowed Belarusians after the decision of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions under its auspices.

The last stage of the Russian Cup this season takes place in Ufa from 12 to 16 March. Two days later, pursuit races will take place, and on March 16 - mass starts.