airgelaal
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I hope he will be banned by ISU. He was joking about russian invasion in Beijing and now he supports his president.
Non-Russian skaters training in Russia
- Thread starter mackiecat
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Really? Where did you hear this? Or speculation?
Frau Muller
From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
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There’s a very high possibility of Russia declaring martial law in the next day or so, and then nobody may be able to leave...at least not the men over 18.I hope Kirill and his family weren't the only ones able to get out in time. What a nightmare.
Indeed. My husband & I are in process of getting our 30-yr-old son, his wife (& their unborn son…due April) out. Pls pray.
MarieM
Grumpy Cynical Ice Dance Lover
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Everywhere. It's just on every serious twitter reporting from Russia.
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Hedwig
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look in the Political incorrect section here on FSU - there is a long thread about Russia's war against Ukraine.
Sylvia
Flight #5342: I Will Remember You
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Still speculation but some are taking it seriously - link to the latest posts in the Russia thread in the PI forum: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/russia.94054/page-36#post-6223897
Best wishes!
skatfan
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Prayers for their safe exit.
Frau Muller
From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
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Just a quick follow-up to give a heartfelt “spasibo-thanks” to all for the support and thoughts. Things are moving in the right direction…leave it at that.
Karen-W
YMCA is such a catchy tune!
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Looks like Karina Safina is on a flight somewhere... hoping the Georgian skaters are getting the heck out of Russia.
Vagabond
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If they go to Georgia, they'll have a great opportunity to learn their national language. 
Iceangel21
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Does anyone know if Harley Windsor managed to leave Russia? The last message I saw from him on Instagram he was taking a train from Moscow.
Karen-W
YMCA is such a catchy tune!
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Looks like Safina/Berulava are in Italy now.
taz'smum
'Be Kind' - every skater has their own story
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He has not left yet
Karen-W
YMCA is such a catchy tune!
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Anastasiia Gubanova is also in Bergamo. I'm hoping this means that the rest of the Georgian skaters have left Russia.
Scott512
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Interesting.Anastasiia Gubanova is also in Bergamo. I'm hoping this means that the rest of the Georgian skaters have left Russia.
I wonder if her coaching team is with her. I also wonder how she feels about being able to go to worlds but not the Russian national team she grew up with. But hey Nastya even as beautifully as she skated at ghe Olympics still has a career she's still trying to establish so she should go to worlds to get some points and set things up for next season. And to try to get Georgia 2 spots for next year's worlds. That's one of the reasons they brought her in. But I hope Nastya doesn't take any grief for going while Anna Sasha and the rest stay home. If it wasn't for Georgia recruiting her Anastasia would have no career at all.
From a Finnish newspaper which has been interviewing passengers (who were willing to talk only on the Finnish side of the boarder) yesterday in the train from St.Petersburg:
"Train from St.Petersburg (Allegro) has become one of the few routes from Russia to Western Europe. On Monday morning, Allegro was full of Russians on their way across Europe: Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy ... Many had large packs with them.
Most of the people seemed to leave the train at Tikkurila station and continue their journey to the airport.
“You could also travel through Istanbul or Serbia,” said Alina, from St. Petersburg who did not want to share her last name.
In recent days, the ALLEGROS have been so full of Russians leaving the country that it is difficult to get tickets for them. Allegro's Finnish conductor told HS (the newspaper) in St. Petersburg that an increase in the number of train services is planned for next week.
At the moment there are two trains daily in two directions, but a third is planned for next week. Before the pandemic, there were four trains in both directions."
The problem with the train is that due to Russian C....d restrictions only Finns and Russians can use it. So in order to get out by train you must have a Russian passport. Negotiations allow other citizens to use the train or ongoing.
There are buses, mini-buses, and taxis from St.Petersburg to Finland taking out people who cannot take the train at the moment.
"Train from St.Petersburg (Allegro) has become one of the few routes from Russia to Western Europe. On Monday morning, Allegro was full of Russians on their way across Europe: Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy ... Many had large packs with them.
Most of the people seemed to leave the train at Tikkurila station and continue their journey to the airport.
“You could also travel through Istanbul or Serbia,” said Alina, from St. Petersburg who did not want to share her last name.
In recent days, the ALLEGROS have been so full of Russians leaving the country that it is difficult to get tickets for them. Allegro's Finnish conductor told HS (the newspaper) in St. Petersburg that an increase in the number of train services is planned for next week.
At the moment there are two trains daily in two directions, but a third is planned for next week. Before the pandemic, there were four trains in both directions."
The problem with the train is that due to Russian C....d restrictions only Finns and Russians can use it. So in order to get out by train you must have a Russian passport. Negotiations allow other citizens to use the train or ongoing.
There are buses, mini-buses, and taxis from St.Petersburg to Finland taking out people who cannot take the train at the moment.
Hedwig
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I am not sure how I feel about Russians leaving Russia at the moment. On the one hand I can understand them so so so so much if they don't agree with Putin and don't want to live there - otoh - we have now 1.5 billion refugees from Ukraine and they take precedent. If we add refugees from Russia, this would overwhelm everything.
TAHbKA
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They are not refugees. They are well off professionals who the world is lucky to have on their side. These people buy the tickets with their own money, they have made a very brave decision to leave everything behind and leave, because staying is unbearable. Trust me, they will not need the charity.
On the other news - according to ria Kvitelashvili is also in Italy. So we get team Georgia at the Worlds
Scott512
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I now wonder if other Russian figure skaters will try to transfer citizensship like Gubanova did. I wonder if they can even use an emergency citizenship transfer because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a way to transfer faster.
Of course anyone transferring now might take more criticism that Anastasia did. I
Of course anyone transferring now might take more criticism that Anastasia did. I
That’s not how citizenship works - Gubanova didn’t “transfer” anything. Georgia allows dual citizenship, so she likely still has her Russian passport as well. Many countries around the world will likely grant legal residency to people fleeing a war, but very few have quick and easy citizenship processes.
TAHbKA
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I think first of all the RusFed would need to release them and I don't see the RusFed running to release anyone right now.
Talalaikina is in the process of switching to Italy, I think it's a done deal by now.
Also keep in mind - a lot of those who switch to represent the other countries still train in Russia - the facilities are better, the coaches are better and Kurakova is an exception rather than a rule - there is a language barrier (Kurakova learned both English and Polish within no time. Not only this girl is a walking sunshine, she is also smart!). Switching to another country while staying in Russia right now might not be the safest thing to do; leaving Russia now with the current level of ruble and without the new federation support is well.. expensive - something Tobias might afford, but not a random Russian girl.
Talalaikina is in the process of switching to Italy, I think it's a done deal by now.
Also keep in mind - a lot of those who switch to represent the other countries still train in Russia - the facilities are better, the coaches are better and Kurakova is an exception rather than a rule - there is a language barrier (Kurakova learned both English and Polish within no time. Not only this girl is a walking sunshine, she is also smart!). Switching to another country while staying in Russia right now might not be the safest thing to do; leaving Russia now with the current level of ruble and without the new federation support is well.. expensive - something Tobias might afford, but not a random Russian girl.
Karen-W
YMCA is such a catchy tune!
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The real question, with this news, is whether or not Eteri is with him.
I haven't seen anything from either Metelkina/Parkman or Kazakova/Reviya, who both train in Moscow (SafBeru were in Perm). OTOH, Alina Urushadze is still in Moscow and I'm not sure what the status of the other Georgian men or their junior skaters is.
skatingguy
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The ISU can grant the release if the federation refuses - it will be interesting to see if/how that develops over the next few years, and of course, depending on the length of the ban.
airgelaal
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I don't think it will be easy if their family will stay in russia.
Scott512
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I think she probably does have dual citizenship as you mentioned. I suppose having dual citizenship will allow Nastya to go to worlds.
Someone told me that the Russian figure skating federation will be cracking down on transfers. If they do even more talented ladies will get buried and retire at 17 or 18.
Scott512
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Probably not very practical to move the entire family out of Russia into a new country just for figure skating.
skatingguy
decently
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This is figure skating we're talking about here - practical is a foreign concept to this sport - it wouldn't be the first time that someone has moved their entire family.
TAHbKA
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I'm actually not sure about that. I.e. the athletes switch places all the time from a pretty young age - Kurakova went to Canada alone as a teenager; Trankov wrote in details how he and Smirnov were surviving in St. Petersburg as teenagers while their families stayed in Perm and wherever Smirnov is from; Berezhnaya moved alone to Latvia when she was what? 13?
Have a feeling moving from Glazov to St. Petersburg was probably a bigger change than, say, from Moscow to Italy (language aside)
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