Ukrainian Athletes as Autonomous Agents of National Resistance: The Alternative Front

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has transformed elite sport into a stage for national resistance where athletes act as independent political agents. We adopt an interpretive qualitative method and constructivist framework to evaluate the communicative power of three Ukrainian athletes in athletics, fencing and tennis. By conceptualising the ‘alternative front’, the research identifies how athlete-led agency functions as ‘diplomacy from below’ through symbolic and material acts of resistance. These findings challenge institutional norms of neutrality and contribute to International Relations debates on informal representation and the social production of legitimacy during existential crises.