Kremlin Propaganda Uses Alexander Ovechkin’s Hockey Record to Promote Russian Nationalism

Executive Summary:

• The Kremlin is using Russian ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin’s record as the all-time National Hockey League–North America’s professional ice hockey league—scorer to promote nationalism, claiming the achievement for Russia.
• Russian President Putin has long used sports to symbolize Russian values and project personal strength, hosting international athletic competitions, promoting participation in sports, and playing in exhibition matches himself.
• Ovechkin’s refusal to openly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, personal promotion of Putin’s presidential campaigns, and cooperation with Russian state-run media facilitate the propagandization of his personal record both in Russia and the West.

On April 6, Russian offensive player for the Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin, overtook Wayne Gretzky as the all-time leading scorer in the National Hockey League (NHL), North America’s professional ice hockey league. The 39-year-old also scored in the Capitals’ April 25 playoff match against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first Russian to reach a career total of 75 goals during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the NHL’s championship tournament (Lenta, April 26). The Kremlin is eager to recognize the achievements of pro-regime Russian emigres, with Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulating the NHL star and Olympic champion for his record-breaking goal (President of Russia, April 7). The expansionist State Duma deputy Svetlana Churova suggested that Ovechkin could become a Duma deputy or even Russian ambassador to the United Nations (The Insider, April 17). After scoring the 895th goal of his career, Ovechkin thanked the goalkeeper of the New York Islanders, who is also Russian, and said, “to all of you, fans, the whole world, Russia, we did it boys, it’s history!” (The Insider, April 17).  

Putin quickly exploited the nationalist value of Ovechkin’s record, posting an open letter to Ovechkin with congratulations on the Kremlin website. The letter praises Ovechkin and claims the achievement for Russia, saying that “without doubt, this achievement has become not only your own personal success, but also a real celebration for fans in Russia and abroad” (President of Russia, April 7). Former Russian Prime Minister and Putin loyalist Dmitry Medvedev also commented on Ovechkin’s achievement, celebrating him in a Telegram post that ridiculed critics of Russian athletes, including Ovechkin, who do not openly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine (Telegram/medvedev_telegram; Sportbox.ru, April 6). Facilitating the propaganda potential of such an achievement, Ovechkin appeared on the “Let Them Talk” (Пусть говорят, Pust’ govoryat) television program on Russia’s state-run Channel One to discuss his record. The hockey star used the opportunity to discuss his family values and how he does not give up on Russia even in difficult times. Somewhat bizarrely, the show gave Ovechkin a cow from a dairy plant in Orenburg to celebrate his achievement and discussed how he has a “unique brain architecture” that makes him superior to other players (Youtube.com/@И_так_бывает, April 8). Ovechkin’s appearance championed Russian national culture on the world stage in a confluence of sports and nationalism.  

Russia is not unique in using sports to promote national identity (Arnold, Richard. “Nationalism and Sport: A Review of the Field,” Nationalities Papers Vol 49, No. 1 (2021): Pages 2-11). British historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote that sports are an effective means of diffusing nationalist ideology because of their distinct ability to symbolize the imagined community of a nation. Politicians accordingly seek endorsements from sports stars to capitalize on their popularity and align themselves with the aspirations of the common people. While democratic politicians certainly promote their sports credentials, proximity to popular athletes is especially useful for non-democratic leaders who are less legitimized through elections (Youtube.com/@Informdetox01, May 16, 2015). In Putin’s early years as a politician, sports were an important component of his cult of personality. Putin has frequently played in exhibition hockey matches where he was invariably the top scorer in a bid to demonstrate his masculinity and strength (President of Russia, May 7, 2012, January 6, May 10, 2016, February 15, 2019, February 7, 2020).

Under Putin, Russia has held two major international sporting events—the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Russia also held the 2013 Summer Universiade (now called the FISU World University Games) in Kazan and the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk. Until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin also hosted major European soccer championships and Formula 1 races. Kremlin promotion of sports even played a role in Russia’s five-year increase in male life expectancy throughout the 2010s (Arnold (Ed.), Russia and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, March 2021). Putin’s promotion of Russian national identity through sports continued with the 2024 revival of Soviet-era sporting parades on Red Square (Moskvichmag.ru, October 18, 2024). The regime also demonstrated its desire to affiliate itself with athletic success in the Kremlin’s elaborate state-run doping program during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The World Doping Agency consequently banned Russian athletes from competing under the Russian flag in international sporting competitions in a decision that will likely extend to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy (Sport-express.ru, April 23).

The Kremlin’s nationalistic veneration of Ovechkin’s achievement is a continuation of its established policy of using sports to promote nationalism. For his part, Ovechkin has long been an overt supporter of Putin. His profile photo on Instagram features him with Putin and, in 2017, he founded the “Team Putin” movement to support Putin’s 2018 presidential campaign (RBC, November 17, 2017). In a 2017 Instagram post, Ovechkin stated that he has “never hidden my attitude toward [Russia’s] President, always openly supporting him. I am sure there are many of us who support Vladimir Putin! So, let’s unite and show everyone a strong and united Russia” (Instagram/@aleksandrovechkinofficial,  November 2, 2017). Ovechkin has held tightly to his support of Putin and, despite expressing dislike of war generally, avoids discussing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin is promoting Ovechkin’s record as a “triumph of sports soft power” and included Ovechkin in the Ministry of Education and Science’s list of “outstanding Russians” (Svoboda.org, April 7; Moskovskiy Komsomolets, April 8). In the United States,  thousands of children and hockey fans admire him as one of the NHL’s best players in history (National Hockey League, April 11). Ovechkin’s influence both inside and outside of Russia opens opportunities for the pro-Kremlin ideology that he promotes on his social media and in interviews. In achieving records in a North American hockey league, refusing to openly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cooperating with state-run media, Ovechkin has afforded a unique opening for Russian propaganda in both Russia and the West.