Ukrainian skaters received minutes-long standing ovations while wearing their country's colors at World Championships

• Ukrainian skaters received standing ovations while competing at World Championships in Montpellier.
• Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin wore their embattled country's colors during the skate.

Despite the ongoing turmoil in their home country, Ukrainian skaters shined at World Championships.

And the crowd at Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, France, rewarded their tenacity in the face of crisis with several minutes-long standing ovations.

Wearing yellow and blue shirts with "Ukraine" printed on the back, Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin — a skating pair from Kharkiv — wowed the audience with an emotional performance in Friday's Ice Dance Rhythm Dance. Upon finishing their routine, the duo held each other and cried while fans rose to their feet and waved Ukrainian flags in support of the Eastern European nation.

Nazarova and Nikitin weren't the only Ukrainian skaters who received outsized support at the premiere skating competition. Fellow countryman Ivan Shmuratko, who competed in the Men's Short Program on Thursday, also earned a standing ovation from the crowd in Montpellier after his routine concluded.

The 20-year-old wore a royal blue short-sleeve shirt with a yellow-and-blue heart on the chest and the word "Ukraine" written in yellow on the back. And though Shmuratko struggled on the ice — falling while attempting a triple Lutz combo — the audience rewarded him with prolonged hoots and hollers just for skating in the first place.

Check out the clip of Shmuratko taking in the magnitude of the moment below:

Nazarova, Nikitin, Shmuratko, and other Ukrainians who competed in the competition were on hand in France as their home country continues to fend off a brutal invasion from Vladimir Putin's Russian forces. Like in many other international sporting competitions held since the invasion of Ukraine began, Russian athletes were banned from participating in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Many Russian skaters, who are famously some of the best on the planet, will partake in their own national competition called the Channel One Cup this weekend. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian talent embroiled in a massive Olympic doping scandal, will participate in the Russian event.