‘I’m Russian’: NHL star Ovechkin defends Putin ad appearance

Washington Capitals captain under fire for appearing in an election campaign video for Putin’s United Russia party.Published On 17 Sep 202617 Sep 2026Alexander Ovechkin ⁠has said he agreed to appear in a political campaign advertisement for the United Russia party, which is backed by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, because ⁠he supports his country.“I’m Russian, and I support my country,” Ovechkin, the all-time leading goal scorer for the National Hockey League (NHL) in North America, told reporters at the Washington Capitals’ media day on Thursday.“I’m for peace ⁠and love, and I hope in the world it doesn’t matter who you are; I hope everybody understands, everybody wants peace, and everybody hopes everything is going to be OK in the world.”Russia will hold a parliamentary election from September 18 to ‌20, the first since it launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022.Ovechkin, who can be seen standing behind Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the video, said he was asked to participate and did not hesitate to agree. He added that he will live in Russia following the end of his sports career.“As soon as I’m done playing hockey, I’m probably going ⁠to stay the...