NHL superstar Ovechkin ‘was asked’ to film Putin ad, team says

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.

The statement added: “This summer, while in Russia, he was asked by his country to participate in a video campaign. As the longest-tenured athlete in Washington, DC, and a pillar of the community, his focus and ours is on the season ahead and the continued impact he makes on the ice and in our city”.

While Ovechkin’s appearance comes as no surprise following similar endorsements of Putin in the past, it has drawn criticism as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags through its fifth year.

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.

Ovechkin founded the “PutinTeam” social movement in 2017 to support the Russian president in the following year’s election and uses a photo of himself with Putin on his official Instagram page.

But following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ovechkin issued a plea for “no more war”, adding: “He’s my president, but … I’m not in politics.”