MOSCOW - Veteran Russian figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko has pulled out of the Russian leg of the ISU Grand Prix series 24, his coach Alexei Mishin said Thursday. "Yevgeny felt pain in his left knee after the tournament in Riga. After undergoing medical testing he received advice to reduce the workload. Doctors allowed him to skate but recomended to withdraw from executing jumps in practice in the coming weeks. Under these conditions we would be unable to prepare adequately for the Moscow Grand Prix stage and decided to withdraw from competing at the event." Mishin added the decision to withdraw would not affect Plushenko's preparation for the Sochi Olympics. "We're currently working according to our plans and this decision will not affect those plans seriously," Mishin said.–AFP