NYT: Alexander Ovechkin - a star on the Washington Ice and a fan of the Kremlin

Фото: Depositphotos

For a decade, he was able to fit into the life of this city and became the most sought-after Russian imported goods - he sneaks through blizzards that remind him of the house, arranges receptions at the Russian House in a room saturated with vodka, where he once left his tooth .

More importantly, he became one of the best hockey players in the United States among a whole generation of hockey players, he scores goals and plays for the capital team Washington Capitals, tending to become a champion. “This is my second home,” says Alexander Ovechkin, this star player, referring to the American capital. But he has his first home. The fact that this hero-hockey player, perhaps, is, and, perhaps, is not, a conscious tool of Kremlin propaganda in the capital of the United States, says the publication New York Times (translation prepared Inosmi).

In the political season of investigations regarding Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election of the year, as well as about the constantly invisible hand of President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Ovechkin is the miracle player in the style of LeBron James with three awards “Most Valuable Player” (MVP), a man with a mischievous charisma and toothless smile - became an integral part of the spirit of the time with its Washington Mystery.

“It’s all about the country,” Mr. Ovechkin said in an interview he gave while sitting at a table in the conference hall of his team’s training rink in Arlington, Virginia. “I just want to do everything I can for my country.”

This month, Mr. Ovechkin announced the creation of a “civic movement” called #Putin’s team (#putinteam), thus demonstrating his support for Mr. Putin, his most powerful fan, and this happened a few months before the presidential elections in Russia scheduled for the beginning of next year (these two are so close that Mr. Putin called Mr. Ovechkin during the time of the wedding ceremony held in the summer and gave him a chic tea set).

“So let's unite,” wrote Mr. Ovechkin in Russian on his page in Instagramadvertising the creation of a new group. He also attached a photo to his post, where the two in snow-white T-shirts hug each other. And he added: "So let's unite and show everyone a strong and united Russia."

32-year-old Mr. Ovechkin insists that this is his own idea, not connected with either the Russian leader or his allies. “Putin’s team is Putin’s team,” Mr. Ovechkin said in his first detailed interview on this issue. “These are just people who support their country, and, in fact, this is a simple thing.”

According to American officials, Mr. Ovechkin is most likely used precisely in this kind of mind-sweeping campaign to raise the prestige of Mr. Putin, regardless of whether Mr. Ovechkin realizes it or not. . This question is not a top priority for intelligence or law enforcement officers, and they all laughed when they were first asked about the “Putin Team”. Mr. Ovechkin is too famous to do real espionage work, one of them remarked.

The Kremlin itself, apparently, welcomed Mr. Ovechkin’s decision, reminding the public that he is "a very famous Russian, successful Russian."

“We know that he has great respect for our president,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Mr. Putin, in an interview with reporters last week.

Yevgeny Minchenko, one of the most influential political consultants and closely associated with the Kremlin, believes that this group can help fight the myths that Putin is allegedly not popular and that his ratings are bloated.

The support of such figures as Mr. Ovechkin can force “apolitical youth” to take part in the elections, Mr. Mchenko added.

However, the efforts associated with the formation of “Putin’s Team” added a plot in the style of James Bond with a political component - a local celebrity living in a period of time when the outlandish ideas about the Russian dark arts were quite real - and all this allowed use the status of an American resident, a man who is probably most appreciated by Mr. Putin, except for the White House.

“Is the Russian spy or something like that?” Asked Mr. Ovechkin when he was reminded of the advertising spot shown many years ago on ESPN, in which he playfully acts as a foreign agent.

Ну и что?

He smiled and said nothing.

For American fans, Mr. Ovechkin’s connection with Mr. Putin was no longer particularly unpleasant, and she was forced to compare some of their support for the government’s idol, which is considered hostile to America’s national interests, with Mr. Ovechkin’s image as a gracious boy.

He played the game "Wet the Mole" (Whac-a-mole) in an amusement park in Maryland, when he was wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "Russian Army", and he also took part in a special event before the team's game Redskinsand at a party during the Halloween festival in the restaurant Mari vanna he appeared in the clothes of a prisoner. As a young man, he was known for appointing himself as a DJ and bartender at the counter in the Russian House on Connecticut Avenue, where he once left a bit of himself.

“He came with all his teeth,” said Aaron McGovern (Aaron mcgovern), the owner of this place, remembering a particularly wild evening. According to him, Mr. Ovechkin pulled out his false tooth and left it on a white sports t-shirt, which was later stolen.

Being a newcomer to 2005, with little knowledge of the language, Mr. Ovechkin welcomed one after another all the club employees Washington Capitals using the only phrase he remembered, but the meaning of which was not entirely clear to him. “Hi, I'm Alex. I'm so happy. Hi, I'm Alex. I'm so happy".

Фото: Depositphotos

And now, having become one of the best players in the world, Mr. Ovechkin is a prominent element in the economy of Washington - the club’s employees Capitals they say that ticket sales revenues increased by 167% over the past 10 years, during which Mr. Ovechkin largely contributed to the success of the team. According to the magazine Forbes, the cost of this franchise increased approximately 4 times over the same period.

Inside the club's ice arena Capitals his shirt with the number 8 fills all the outlets. "If he wins the team Penguinsthen I will be ready to forgive him a lot, ”said during a recent game. Capitals dressed in a shirt with this number George Schick (George schick), a fan of Ovechkin and a critic of Putin.

After a short pause, Mr. Schick added: "So, cracking down on dissidents in Russia is not very beautiful."

For years, Mr. Ovechkin has been called “Ovi” in Washington and “Sasha” in Moscow. He appeared along with Putin during several celebrity-supported events in the Kremlin. Together they were on the ice during the exhibition game against the student team, and together they visited a martial art tournament called sambo - wrestling, which was developed to improve the skills of hand-to-hand fighting of the Red Army soldiers.

Both of them love to demonstrate their naked torso - the president on a horse, and the hockey player on the dance floor during his own wedding - and also have a tendency to bright celebrations. After his team-mates poured champagne into the World Championship winners cup in 2014, it was Mr. Ovechkin who raised the vessel high enough for Mr. Putin to drink from it.

Фото: Depositphotos

In June, Mr. Ovechkin was present at the studio during the Straight Line television program with the president, after which his photograph graced the Kremlin website.

In July, he received a wedding gift from Mr. Putin - a tea set, which Mr. Ovechkin, by his own admission, had not yet had time to use.

Mr Putin does not change his close contact with Mr Ovechkin to liaise with lesser-known Russian hockey players.

“He never calls me, as he calls Ovi,” said Yevgeny Malkin, the leading player of the team, referring to Mr. Putin. Pittsburgh penguins, after losing last week by Mr. Ovechkin’s team Capitals. “He’s too busy to call me.”

Friends consider Mr. Ovechkin a man distant from politics, he says they don’t have particularly sophisticated tastes and ambitions - he is mainly interested in such things as borscht, video games, and a strict training diet. His friends believe that he is far from geopolitical intrigue.

“This is a big kid,” said Pete Kalamutsos about him (Pete kalamoutsos), the owner of this club who knows Mr. Ovechkin from his first season.

In an interview, Mr. Ovechkin himself presented a version of such an argument. The hockey player has few political instincts, he said. “We are not so smart. We are not participating in this and are simply doing our work, ”he added.

He also believes that one should not exaggerate the significance of his contacts with Mr. Putin. According to him, they haven’t communicated since summer and, moreover, he doesn’t have the mobile phone number of the Russian president. “But it would be nice to have one,” he said.

Of course, Mr. Putin’s patronage has its positive aspects in Russia, where former athletes often get a place in his extended circle. For Mr. Putin (his country was the mistress of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, and recently became involved in a scandal involving state doping support), sport is an expression of patriotism and national greatness.

Although many hockey players in the United States have supported Mr. Putin for many years, Mr. Ovechkin’s commitment to him is particularly noticeable. He was criticized in 2014 after a post he published in Instagramwhich might have seemed to support Mr. Putin’s actions in Ukraine, but Mr. Ovechkin again said that he did not try to make a political statement. According to his fans, it has become more difficult for them to put up with such explanations.

“I think that a lot of people tried to somehow separate these statements and focus on the hockey part of Ovi,” said Ian Oland (Ian oland), founder of the RMNB website, familiar with what is happening in the club Capitals. “Such things simply cannot be ignored.”

The name of Mr. Oland’s website is related to the phrase spoken by Mr. Ovechkin in 2006 year after he recovered quickly from his injury. "The Russian car never breaks" (Russian Machine Never Breaks), - he said.

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