The official Instagram account of the International Skating Union (ISU) featured and quickly removed a video of Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik's performance to a song in Ukrainian. Earlier, a clip of Gumennik's performance at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Beijing was published on the ISU Figure Skating page, where he performed a program set to the soundtrack from the film 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'.
Another news piece concerns the International Skating Union's (ISU) response to appeals from Russian figure skaters supporting the war on Instagram. Russian athletes Ksenia Korzhova, Anna Urazova, and Alexandra Sayutina received ‘neutral’ status for qualification for the 2026 Olympics, but they liked posts supporting the war and Russian dictator Putin. For example, Korzhova supported Russian aggression in Ukraine by liking posts from gymnast Nikita Nagorny, who was sanctioned for supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Petr Gumennik performed to a Ukrainian song at one of the competitions, which caused a certain resonance among figure skating fans. At the same time, the ISU's reaction to the support from Russian athletes for aggression against Ukraine highlights the importance of ethical principles and public response to events that have a political context.