No Neutral Ground: Why changing sports citizenship does not make an athlete an ex-Russian
- DeTalks
- 18 лип.
- Читати 9 хв
Authors: Andrii Nikitonok, Viktoriia Hvozd, Oleksii Pavlusenko, українська версія тут.
The DeTalks investigation into young athletes from Russia and Belarus. Part 3.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, athletes from Russia and Belarus have been faced with a choice: compete under a “neutral” flag, be deprived of international competitions, or change their citizenship. The last option proved to be the most convenient, especially for those who wanted to avoid sanctions, continue their careers, and retain the support of their teams or federations.
In the first part of the No Neutral Ground project, DeTalks discussed individuals who continue to operate under the flags of aggressor countries despite the sanctions. In the second part, we talked about athletes with the status of “neutral” who maintain close ties with Russia or Belarus. This time, we move to another level of the hidden presence of Russian influence in world sports — those who have changed their country in their documents but not in their views.
According to the Russian publication Kholod, by mid-2023, at least 204 Russian athletes had changed their sports citizenship. And Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that by the summer of 2024, this number had risen to at least 353, including 26 who had officially changed their passports.
“Kholod suspects that the real number of Russians who have changed their sports citizenship may be many times higher, as a significant share of them are young non-public athletes from unpromoted sports,” the publication said.
How Russians obtain a second citizenship
Russian law allows citizens to have foreign passports without losing their Russian citizenship. De facto, this is not considered “dual citizenship,” as this term applies only to countries with which Russia has agreements, but de jure, it is multiple citizenship. By law, Russians are obliged to notify the Interior Ministry of receiving a new passport within 60 days; otherwise, they face a fine or forced labor. At the same time, the law does not require renunciation of Russian citizenship.
Restrictions on multiple citizenship in Russia apply only to certain government positions. Athletes are not limited in this way, so they can easily get passports from other countries and represent those countries.
Why changing citizenship does not equal severing ties with the aggressor country.
However, the fact of obtaining another citizenship does not mean that the athlete has severed ties with the aggressor country. It is rather a way to save a sports career than to demonstrate a conscious position.
Athletes who now compete under new flags avoid making public statements about the war. They do not condemn Russian aggression, express support for Ukraine, or even explain why they changed their citizenship. At the same time, many of them continue to live in Russia, train in the same gyms, with the same coaches, and represent Russian clubs at domestic competitions.
The financial part also remains unchanged: athletes living in Russia pay taxes to the budget, which, in turn, finances the war against Ukraine. Therefore, the new passport does not break the old ties — in the international arena, it only creates the illusion of distancing, while often behind the scenes, the same Russian sports machine operates under a different flag.
Figure Skating
The change of sporting nationality in figure skating is regulated by Rule 109 of the International Skating Union (ISU). According to this regulation, an athlete may represent a new country only if they are a citizen of that country or have resided there continuously for at least one year. If the skater has previously competed in international ISU events for another country, they must also obtain permission from their former national federation to switch representation.
Even with such permission, the athlete can represent the new country only after completing a 12-month waiting period, counted from the date of their last performance for the previous federation. In addition, the new federation must submit an application to the ISU Secretariat for a Clearance Certificate (CC) — the official permit for the change of representation.
For pair skating and ice dancing, the requirements are somewhat more lenient: only one partner needs to meet the citizenship or residency criteria of the new country. The other partner may not meet these requirements, but must still obtain permission from their previous national federation. Changing sporting nationality in figure skating does not legally require a new passport, but the ISU insists on a clear link to the new country, either through citizenship or verified residence.
Despite these formal requirements, in practice, there are cases where a change in sporting nationality is not accompanied by any real changes in the athlete’s life. A telling example is Konstantin Supatashvili, a figure skater born in 2007 in Saint Petersburg. He continues to train under Russian figure skating coach Alexandrina Degtyaryova (Master of Sport, 2016) and Kirill Davidenko, who also teaches at the Saint Petersburg State Budgetary Institution of Additional Education — the Olympic Reserve Sports School "Figure Skating Academy on Ice." This academy is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation.
On August 4, 2023, the outlet RIA Novosti Sport reported that Sofia Samodelkina, the 2020 Russian Cup champion, intended to change her sporting nationality and compete for Kazakhstan. Before the official switch, this Russian skater continued to compete in domestic Russian events. In the 2022/23 season, she ended her cooperation with Honored Russian Coach Svetlana Sokolovskaya and joined the “Angels of Plushenko” academy. The academy’s founder, Evgeny Plushenko, was a trusted representative of Vladimir Putin during elections and received government grants to stage propaganda-style ice shows. Notably, Samodelkina participated in these shows, which helped her maintain a public presence during her time away from competition.
“Sofia moved to Kazakhstan and obtained citizenship in May 2023. This season, her training took place at the ‘Angels of Plushenko’ academy. Plans will become clear after receiving the official release and finalizing the transition. Training will take place both in Kazakhstan and Russia according to an individual plan. We are currently waiting for the official release from the Russian Figure Skating Federation. After that, we’ll prepare a competition schedule,” said Elmira Turganova, President of the Astana Figure Skating Federation.
As of September 1, 2024, Samodelkina left the "Angels of Plushenko." However, the federation confirmed that her relationship with Plushenko and Yana Rudkovskaya remains intact.
“Sofia will continue her cooperation and friendship with Yana Aleksandrovna Rudkovskaya and Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko. The decision to move to another coach was made jointly by the federation and Sofia, along with them,” reported the Astana Figure Skating Federation.
“A 13-year-old singles skater with a triple Axel from Kazan — now a Georgian.” This headline appeared on August 9, 2022, on the Russian site Sport Express. Inga Gurgenidze, who competed under the surname Nikitina until the 2021/22 season, changed her sporting nationality to Georgian.
“Inga doesn’t need to serve a quarantine period — she hasn’t competed internationally yet. Technically, a release from her federation isn’t required, but such agreements are usually arranged anyway. Especially considering she has no facilities to train in Georgia — the entire country has one inflatable rink in Batumi and a few smaller ones that don’t meet international standards in Kutaisi and Tbilisi,” wrote Sport Express.
On April 24, 2022, already after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine had begun, Gurgenidze competed in the finals of the Republic of Tatarstan Cup. By August, the outlet Championat announced her move to the Georgian national team. Nevertheless, the “Russian/Georgian” athlete continued to train in Kazan, as confirmed by her ISU profile, alongside coach Lyudmila Gafarova.
Motorsports
In the previous part of the investigation, the DeTalks editorial board has already paid attention to motorsports, in particular, to the participation of Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev in this year's Italian Formula 4 championship. However, along with him, Russian pilots hiding under the flags of other countries are also taking part in the competition.
The official regulations of the Italian Formula 4 season 2025 state:
“All drivers participating in the Italian F4 Championship, regardless of the nationality of their license, must keep the nationality of their passport in all official documents, publications, and award ceremonies.”
In other words, only those who are truly citizens of a particular country have the right to compete under the flag of that country.
Maximilian Popov is a race car driver who is currently competing in the championship under the flag of Grenada, although he is listed on the Driver Database as a Russian driver with an Italian license. Maximilian's official website lists his sponsors — three out of four are Russian companies.
The Russian Automobile Federation confidently calls Popov “its” pilot and regularly takes comments from him. On his telegram channel, Maximilian thanks his coach, Petro Gorobov, with whom he has been working since he was four years old, and actively maintains his page on the Russian social network VKontakte. However, he makes no mention of Grenada, under whose flag the racer competes.
Another young Russian driver became famous for a scandal that occurred on the podium of the 2022 European Karting Championship. After winning one of the stages, Artem Severukhin performed the Roman salute during the award ceremony. At the time, he was racing under the Italian flag due to sanctions, as was Maximilian Popov, who was also a participant in the championship.
The FIA reacted to Severukhin's gesture by disqualifying him from the stage and depriving him of his victory. By the way, the Russian finished that season in last place, 72nd, without a single point. In the 2025 season, Artem is already competing in the Italian Formula 4 under the flag of Kazakhstan. At the same time, like the “neutral” Kirill Kutskov, he also participates in the Russian SMP Formula 4.
Another “hard worker” who combines international races with competitions in his “home” championship is Ivan Ovsienko. The Russian racer competes in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup, representing Kyrgyzstan. The regulations of the racing series do not directly mention the nationality of the athletes. The main requirement is to have a valid motorsport license from any national federation recognized by the French Motorsport Federation.
At the same time, Ovsiyenko continues to compete domestically under the Russian flag. The same as the mentioned drivers, he is a member of the SMP Formula 4.
DanceSport
In the previous part of the investigation, the DeTalks team wrote about dance sport — a discipline that will feature at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu in less than a month. This sport also made its Olympic debut at the 2024 Games with one of its styles — breaking.
The World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to return under “neutral” status back in August 2023. However, some couples took a different route — changing their sporting nationality by having one partner obtain a passport from another country.
This step is only necessary if a couple wants to compete at the World or European Championships, where national quotas apply. For open tournaments, it is enough to get approval from the federations of both the country the athlete leaves and the one they join.
A telling example comes from the Under-21 Latin World Championship held in June 2025 in Bremen, Germany. The gold medals went to Volodymyr Virlieiev and Maria Proshlietsova, while the silver was won by Nikita Zemlianoy and Sofia Dubeiko.
According to the WDSF website, Mariia — the female dancer in the winning duo — received Kyrgyzstan citizenship in October 2023. Meanwhile, Volodymyr kept his Russian passport. The pair continues to train in Russia, as seen in their videos and joint posts from training camps, and also confirmed by the fact that Volodymyr still studies at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism in Moscow.
Their coaches are Oleksii Silde and Anna Firstova, both titled as Honored Masters of Sport in Russia. At the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Silde was a member of the presidium of the All-Russian Dance Sport Federation (FDSARR) and headed the Moscow regional federation, where he still holds a leadership role.
In 2023, Dubeiko’s partner Zemlianoy switched his sporting nationality to Armenian. While Nikita had already danced for Armenia before the invasion (with a different partner), his current partner, Sofia, has not changed either her citizenship or her mobile provider. Their training videos are frequently posted by the Moscow-based “Platinum” dance club, often using the hashtag "#dancesmoscow".
Also in 2023, Zemlianoy enrolled at the same Russian university mentioned earlier. A year later, he held his wedding in Krasnodar, and in April of this year, he competed in a Pro-Am tournament (a professional-amateur dance event) under the FDSARR.
Changing nationality without cutting ties with the aggressor country allows Russian and Belarusian athletes bypass restrictions and return to the international stage. They remain part of a system that directly or indirectly supports the war against Ukraine.
International federations often ignore athletes’ true background, focusing only on paperwork — licenses, flags, and approvals. This creates the illusion that Russia’s presence in sports is somehow limited or controlled. In reality, that presence hides behind a mask of neutrality, new flags, and new passports, while keeping access to influence, resources, and international promotion.
For Ukraine’s sporting community — and society as a whole — it remains essential to keep shining a light on such cases. Not for the sake of punishment, but for the sake of justice. DeTalks ends its “No Neutral Ground” investigation not with a full stop, but with an ellipsis — because this story is far from over.