Russian gymnasts Dina and Arina Averina were shown on stage at a pro-war rally organised by Vladimir Putin.

Dina and Arina Averina are two of the most successful rhythmic gymnasts around, with the former a four-time all-around world champion and Olympic silver medallist.

Her identical twin sister, Arina, is also a multiple World Championships medallist.

The pair were shown on stage at the pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium, wearing the nationalist "Z" symbol on their jackets.

They were joined by figure skaters Evgenia Tarasova, Vladimir Morozov, Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina, who all earned medals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Around 200,000 people reportedly attended the rally, during which Russian President Putin gave a speech.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month, the International Olympic Committee advised that athletes and officials from the country should be banned from all international sporting events.

If athletes can not be removed from competition, they should compete as neutrals, with a recommendation for no national symbols, colours, flags or anthems to be displayed.

The International Gymnastics Federation announced earlier this month that it would be complying with the IOC’s advice, meaning the Averina twins are not allowed to compete as it stands.

Some governing bodies have decided to allow Russian athletes to continue competing, however, with WTA chief executive Steve Simon defending his decision to do so.

“I feel very, very strongly that again these individual athletes should not be the ones that are being penalised by the decisions of an authoritarian leadership that is obviously doing terrible, reprehensible things,” he said.

Indeed, there have been Russian athletes who have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, with tennis player Anna Kalinskaya wearing trainers with “No War” written on them at Indian Wells.

Andrey Rublev also wrote "No war please" on a TV camera as he advanced to the final of the Dubai Championships last month.