PutinTeam

PutinTeam is a social movement announced in 2017 by NHL player Alexander Ovechkin to support Russian President Vladimir Putin.[1]

PutinTeam
Named afterVladimir Putin
FormationNovember 2, 2017 (2017-11-02)
FounderAlexander Ovechkin
Legal statusActive
PurposeTo support Russian president Vladimir Putin
Websitehttps://putinteam.ru/

Background

Ovechkin has a personal relationship with Putin.[2] Ovechkin has a personal phone number for Putin and received a present from Putin at his wedding in 2016.[2]

History

PutinTeam was first announced in a November 2, 2017 post on Ovechkin’s Instagram account, which has over one million followers.[3][4] On November 23, Ovechkin announced on his Instagram that the group's official website had been launched.[1] On the soft launch of the site, visitors were encouraged to sign up for the team, track related news, participate in contests and attend and organize events.[2]

Ovechkin has claimed that the idea for PutinTeam was all his and that the group is non-political in its nature. However, Vedomosti, a Russian financial newspaper, reported that Kremlin sources have said that IMA-Consulting were behind the creation of the organization.[2] A Kremlin-supported public-relations firm, IMA-Consulting reportedly holds a $600,000 contract to promote the 2018 Russian elections.

The Kremlin spoke in support of the movement after its announcement.[5][6]

Other support

Fellow NHL player Evgeni Malkin, who announced his own support for the movement, stated, "We want (Putin) to understand that we support him….We just try to offer our support because, in 2018, we have the World Cup in Russia; they have elections, too."[5][7]

In addition Alexander Ovechkin, the PutinTeam movement also included many Russian sportsmen, actors, musicians and social activists: Evgeni Malkin, Yelena Isinbayeva, Sergey Karjakin, Sergey Tetyukhin, Nikolay Rastorguyev, Polina Gagarina, Dima Bilan, Ilya Kovalchuk, Nyusha, Andrey Merzlikin, Pavel Bure, Evgeni Plushenko, Nikolay Baskov, Sergei Krikalev, Mikhail Galustyan, Alexander Legkov, Anton Shipulin, Ivan Tcherezov, Alexandr Karelin and others.[8]

See also

References
  1. Dumas, Graham (November 23, 2017). "Alex Ovechkin announces via Instagram that the Putin Team website is live". www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com. Russian Machine Never Breaks. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. Maese, Rick; Khurshudyan, Isabelle; Roth, Andrew (November 25, 2017). "Alex Ovechkin is one of Putin's biggest fans. The question is, why?". www.washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. Ovechkin, Alexander (November 2, 2017). "instagram post". www.instragam.com. Instagram. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. "NHL star Ovechkin invites you to join the #Putinteam as website goes up". www.rt.com. RT. November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  5. Gleeson, Scott (November 17, 2017). "Penguins' Evgeni Malkin joins 'Putin Team'". www.usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  6. Gleeson, Scott (November 3, 2017). "Kremlin pleased with Alex Ovechkin's support of Vladimir Putin". www.usatoday.com. USA Today. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. Mackey, Jason (November 16, 2017). "Makin discusses decision to join 'Putin Team'". www.post-gazette.com. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  8. "КОМАНДА|ЛЮДИ, КОТОРЫМ ВЕРИМ". Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
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