Alex Ovechkin can call himself just an athlete all he wants. The problem is that he chose to step into a political spotlight, and once he did that, the questions were never going away.
This week, Ovechkin told ESPN in Washington that he is “not in politics,” after being pressed about his appearance in a campaign-style video for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and about his stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also tried to avoid assigning blame, saying, “I can’t say who’s right and who’s wrong,” when asked about Putin’s claims over who is responsible for the invasion of Ukrain.
That posture does not hold up. When you appear in public support of a political figure - especially one as powerful and divisive as Putin - you are making a political choice. And when you are the captain of the Washington Capitals, the scrutiny only gets louder.
The video itself makes the point impossible to miss. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaks in blunt, combative language, saying Russia will defend itself “with a sword” and telling the country’s enemies to “expect no mercy: we will rise together, as we do today.”
Ovechkin insisted to ESPN’s Klemko that he did not believe the clip glorified the war. He also repeated his familiar message about peace.
“I think it’s just support what’s happening in Russia,” Klemko said the hockey star. “I want the peace and love for everybody.
It doesn’t matter who you are, American, Russian, or Ukrainian. Like, I have lots of friends who are Ukrainians, and I hope everything’s gonna be good, and everything’s gonna be done soon.”
But the public record around the people in that video makes Ovechkin’s defense look thin. One of the figures shown is Maria Lvova Belova, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court with the abduction of Ukrainian children. Ovechkin told Klemko he did not know who she is.
That is exactly why the whole thing landed so badly. Ovechkin chose to appear in the commercial, did not tell the Capitals beforehand, and the team has said it would have preferred he had spoken to them first. Capitals GM Chris Patrick told ESPN that if Ovechkin had run it by the team, they would have worked to avoid “the situation.”
“And I doubt we’d be standing where we’re standing right now if he had run it by us,” he said.
Ovechkin’s public defense has only invited more criticism. A Republican congressman called him out this week and urged the NHL to sanction him.
Ovechkin brushed that off by saying, “Well, everybody has their own opinion, right? I’m not a politician, I’m an athlete,” before adding, “I support my country.
Like, I’m Russian.”
That’s the contradiction at the center of all this: he wants the reach and symbolism that come with showing up in a political message, but not the responsibility that comes with it.
And Ovechkin’s claim that he’s just a passenger in all of this rings even hollower when you compare him with players who have been willing to speak plainly. Ex-Canuck Nikita Zadorov has been outspoken about Putin and the regime, and has made clear he understands the cost of saying so.
He told Ben Kuzma in December 2023, not long after joining the Canucks, “They (Russia) call it an invasion but it’s not an invasion. That’s bulls-t.
It’s a war,” he told Ben Kuzma in December 2023, not long after joining the Canucks. “They’re sending rockets and killing people and when you cross the border first, that’s a war.
They make up cool words so it doesn’t look so bad, but that’s part of propaganda.
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