Russian athletes at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan, 23 July 2021. Photo: Phil Noble / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, at least 353 of the country’s professional athletes — from promising juniors to established world champions — have left the country to compete for other nations, an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe has found.
The two countries to have profited the most from Russian sport stars deciding to move abroad are Serbia and Israel, both of which are represented in international competition by 29 formerly Russian athletes.
Germany comes in a close third with 23 former Russians now competing for it internationally. The other main beneficiaries of Russia’s sporting exodus have been Armenia, Kazakhstan, France, Canada and the US.
Of those who now compete under different flags, the majority (208) are chess players. Other popular sporting disciplines to have seen a large exodus from Russia include figure skating, equestrian sports, martial arts and motorsport.
In general, sport stars competing as individuals find changing citizenship to be the most straightforward, and of the 353 Russians to do so, only nine perform in team sports.
Russia’s tightly controlled domestic media promotes the narrative that the very best Russian athletes have stayed behind, and that it was only those who couldn’t keep up with the competition who left. However, Novaya Europe has calculated that since the war began, at least 16 world champions, 30 European champions, 32 Russian champions and numerous other prize-winners have sought to compete under a foreign flag.
Only 15 Russian sport stars will compete at the Paris Olympics, a number that is 26 times lower than the average number of Russian competitors for previous Games. Indeed, the last time Russia had so few competitors at the Summer Games was during the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
While there are only 15 Russian citizens taking part in the Paris Games, Novaya Gazeta Europe estimates there are a further 77 competitors who were born in Russia or who have previously represented Russia who are taking part in Paris. Of those, 26, more than a third, are doing so as a result of changing citizenship since 24 February 2022.
