NHL superstar Ovechkin ‘was asked’ to film Putin ad, team says
Russian sports icon joins prominent domestic figures promoting the ruling United Russia party ahead of elections.
The Washington Capitals ice hockey team has deflected criticism of star Alex Ovechkin’s appearance in a campaign video for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
A spokesperson for the Capitals said that their National Hockey League (NHL) record-setting goal scorer had been “asked by his country to participate”.
Ovechkin, a longtime Putin supporter who spends his offseasons in Moscow, is among a group of prominent Russians shown in a campaign video for the ruling United Russia party ahead of nationwide elections this week.
Putin’s United Russia is widely expected to retain its majority in the State Duma following this week’s tightly controlled parliamentary elections, but the vote is seen by the Kremlin as a barometer of public opinion on the war with Ukraine, which killed hundreds of thousands of people.