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 The International Olympic Committee said some Ukrainian athletes
had decided to leave Sochi for home, where at least 43 people have
died in anti-government protests.
A team official said Alpine skier Bogdana Matsotska and her father,
who is also her coach, had pulled out, although it was not
immediately clear if others had joined them.
Turmoil at home has never been far from the minds of the Ukrainian
team, and some athletes asked for permission on Wednesday to wear
black arm bands while competing in order to honor those killed.
Policemen were among the dead.
The IOC said it had not stopped athletes from doing so, but that the
team had made the decision itself.
"I believe some of them have decided to return home and (Ukraine
Olympic Committee president) Sergey Bubka has said he absolutely
respects every individual's right to make their own decision," IOC
spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.
 Ukraine team officials and some athletes held a minute's silence in
memory of the victims back home and black ribbons were attached to
Ukraine flags hanging on the balconies of their building in the
athletes' village.
Turmoil in Ukraine raises uncomfortable questions for Russia and its
president, Vladimir Putin, who has been instrumental in shaping
events in there.
RUSSIA'S ROLE
Nationwide demonstrations erupted in November after Ukraine
President Viktor Yanukovich bowed to Russian pressure and pulled out
of a planned trade pact with the European Union, deciding instead to
accept a Kremlin bailout for the indebted economy.
Putin will be desperate for the crisis not to overshadow the Games,
which he has used to try to project a more modern, tolerant face of
Russia through a well-organized Olympics and his own smiles,
handshakes and hugs with athletes and officials.
Thrilling sporting action has generally pushed any criticism into
the background, but it resurfaced this week with the detention in
Sochi of members of protest group Pussy Riot, well known in the West
for attacking Putin's human rights record.
They released a music video on Thursday criticizing Russia's staging
of the Winter Olympics that includes clips from an incident in Sochi
when Cossacks beat members of the group with a whip as they tried to
perform.
"The Olympics have created a space for the complete destruction of
human rights in Russia," said Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the
group's most prominent members who has already been jailed for her
protests.
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"They have banned us from speaking. The rights of everyone are
banned — political activists, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender) activists and anyone who has an alternative opinion,"
she told reporters in Sochi.
KIM SEEKS TO RETAIN CROWN
In the sporting arena, six gold medals are decided on Thursday, led
by the women's figure skating at the Iceberg Skating Palace in the
Olympic Park.
Champion Kim Yuna of South Korea aims to become only the third woman
to win back-to-back Olympic titles as the competition heads for a
thrilling finale in the free dance.
Only a slender margin separates leader Kim from Russian Adelina
Sotnikova and 2012 world champion Carolina Kostner of Italy, who is
in third after the short program.
Rising Russian star Julia Lipnitskaya failed to live up to a
nation's expectations with a bad tumble that leaves the 15-year-old
out of contention, and the home crowds were still smarting from
Wednesday's men's ice hockey defeat by Finland.
There are also finals in women's ice hockey and curling, with Canada
featuring in both.
The ice hockey final pits the United States against Canada, far and
away the strongest teams in the sport. Canada have had the upper
hand recently, beating the Americans 2-0 in the 2010 Vancouver final
and 3-2 in the preliminary round in Sochi.
In curling, Canada's women face Sweden in another repeat of the 2010
final. The Swedes are seeking a third successive gold but face a
tough challenge against a Canadian team who have marched to the
final without suffering defeat.
Two medals are up for grabs in freestyle skiing at the Extreme Park
up in the Caucasus Mountains above Sochi.
The first of those went to France's Jean-Frederic Chapuis in the
men's ski cross, a thrilling spectacle of soaring jumps, tight,
banked turns and painful tumbles.
American X-Games champion Maddie Bowman and Canadian runner-up
Rosalind Groenewoud will start as favorites as women's ski halfpipe
makes its Olympic debut.
Germany, backed by gold medalist Eric Frenzel, looks to be far too
strong for opponents in Nordic Combined team event.
(Reporting by the Reuters Olympic team in Sochi and Rosa Khutor;
editing by Peter Rutherford)
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