‘I’m Russian’: NHL star Ovechkin defends Putin ad appearance
Washington Capitals captain under fire for appearing in an election campaign video for Putin's United Russia party.
Alexander Ovechkin has said he agreed to appear in a political campaign advertisement for the United Russia party, which is backed by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, because he supports his country.
“I’m Russian, and I support my country,” Ovechkin, the all-time leading goal scorer for the National Hockey League (NHL) in North America, told reporters at the Washington Capitals’ media day on Thursday.
“I’m for peace and love, and I hope in the world it doesn’t matter who you are; I hope everybody understands, everybody wants peace, and everybody hopes everything is going to be OK in the world.”
“As soon as I’m done playing hockey, I’m probably going to stay there,” he said. “I’m gonna live there, my kids gonna live there, family. I’m for peace and love, and I hope everything’s going to be OK.”