I never really know whether to cover news about Nikita Nagorny. He and his wife Daria Spiridonova are internet influencers; high profile vloggers who live a particular lifestyle. Nikita is friends with the son-in-law of Sergei Shoigu, Russian (now discredited?) Defence Minister. It was presumably this connection that got Nikita the title of (honorary) head of Yunarmia, the Youth Army, which is the equivalent of our (UK) scouting organisations, but with some fairly strong militaristic and patriotic connections; as you would expect in an authoritarian state where repression is at an all time high. Nikita was appointed to this position before the most recent wave of attacks on Ukraine, although it is worth remembering that the attacks have been ongoing since 2014.
Nikita comes from Rostov, in the south of Russia, not far from the border with Ukraine. It’s not unlikely that he has friends and family in Ukraine. Many Russians share Ukrainian ethnicity in their families; Russia is a very diverse society.
Earlier this year Denis Ablyazin’s partner posted proudly on Instagram that Denis, Nikita, David Belyavski and Artur Dalaloyan had clubbed together to buy a drone for Russian troops in Ukraine. Then everything went quiet. If this is true, it’s direct military involvement that could have cost lives. And that’s definitely not good. But it’s for the IOC/FIG to investigate this, not for us to speculate.
Who knows what Nikita thinks of the war? Whatever people say, Russia is a scary place right now. Few want to go public with their thoughts on the war and probably for Nikita and Dasha even more is at stake because they are so high profile. In that sense, it’s quite creditable that they have remained as neutral and silent on the war as they have. In terms of Nikita’s activities with Yunarmia: how could he resign or refuse duties without giving a big slap in the face to the Defence Minister? With so many Russians going missing, or falling out of windows right now, visibly dissenting by resigning a position or even failing to show for an event could be very dangerous.
The sanctions - including the banning of Russian athletes from the Olympics - were designed to target Russia economically, in particular the Oligarchs who were presumed to support President Putin. They were also supposed to prevent Russia from gaining the profile and morale benefits of sporting victories, and to communicate to ordinary Russian people how undesirable their state’s actions in Ukraine are, in the hope that this may ultimately bring about regime change (whether this would be for good or bad is a moot point).
The sanction in sports so far has been - no international competition for Russian athletes. And in a wider sense, while that hurts me as a lifelong follower of the sport, I think it is probably right.
But at an individual level for the athletes it is really harsh. Who are we to judge individuals in what must be one of the most difficult situations in their lives? To have their livelihoods denied them, their whole lifestyle and friendship networks disrupted?
I also believe that there are other ways of seeing this. Sport means friendship and rivalry. Respect between nations and individuals. In breaking up friendship connections between countries, we are actually accentuating the isolation and polarisation of opinion that leads to and is a consequence of war.
We can condemn the Russian state for its horrific violence without losing our respect for and enjoyment of Russian culture, and that includes sport. Our ‘friendships’ with the gymnasts and their coaches, both virtual and personal, are still important strands that hold together our international society and give us perspective through life’s difficulties.
Put simply, love will always be stronger than war. Our friends might not be able to speak out, might not be allowed to contact us any more, but we can still hold the faith, keep the candle alight, and remain loyal - until such time as we can speak again and face reality, for good or for bad.
There is the possibility that the IOC and FIG may find a way for individual neutral athletes to compete - but it will take athletes of exceptional courage to declare themselves neutral in today’s Russia.
With all that in mind, I’m still undecided about Nikita and his connections - do they cross the line into direct military involvement? I’m going to say that we can’t judge; let’s leave that to those who have access to the whole picture.
I’ll compromise in Nikita’s case. I won’t post his pictures here, where most recently he has attended an event where Svetlana Khorkina spoke about the challenges for athletes in deciding when and how to retire. I will say, however, that sadly, Nikita says he is considering retirement from the sport. He has always said that he wants to stop at the right time, and he is obviously feeling very dispirited at present.
It’s not a final decision and I think he is preparing for the Russia Cup, but finding it rather heavy weather on a motivational level. Which is sad for such a fierce competitor.
God bless this mess. Let’s pray for Ukraine, and for the ordinary people of Russia (Nikita is one of them); let’s pray for the Russian people to find strength and courage to press peacefully for change - and get out of Ukraine.