Asked to comment about the barring of Russian skaters, Galina Zmievskaya, a native of Ukraine and Petrenko’s former coach, who now teaches at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J., said in a statement: “This is bigger than figure skating right now. We’re seeing a country get destroyed and innocent lives are in danger every second.”
Zmievskaya, who also coached Oksana Baiul of Ukraine to an Olympic gold medal in 1994, added: “We are all deeply saddened and at a loss for words seeing this tragedy unfold. The most important thing on our mind right now is helping the people of this beautiful country and achieving peace.”
The barring of Russian skaters came a day after athletes from the country were prohibited from competing in international soccer and ice hockey events. The International Olympic Committee has requested that all sports governing bodies not invite or allow Russian athletes to compete.
Tom Zakrajsek, an American figure skating coach, said in a text message that the sanction against Russian skaters “seems totally appropriate.” He continued, “Logically, I don’t think they could have made any other choice.”
Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
What is at the root of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence, and it has grown unnerved at Ukraine’s closeness with the West and the prospect that the country might join NATO or the European Union. While Ukraine is part of neither, it receives financial and military aid from the United States and Europe.
The ban imposed by the International Skating Union came even though its vice president, Alexander Lakernik of Russia, is a powerful figure in the governing body. Reached briefly, Lakernik said he could not comment, given his position in the organization.
Tamara Moskvina, a pairs coach whose skaters have won Olympic medals from 1984 through 2022, obliquely criticized the ban in a phone interview from St. Petersburg, Russia, saying, “Read the I.S.U. code of ethics where it says the I.S.U. cannot take into consideration differences in race, politics, religion, et cetera, and then you will know whether” the ban “coincides with the measures the I.S.U. took or not.”
Tuesday night in Kyiv, Anastasiya Makarova, the general secretary of Ukraine’s figure skating association, said the sport — like all of life — had been severely disrupted. A novice competition had to be halted last week when the Russians began attacking Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine; 15 children were safely placed on a train to Kyiv, Makarova said.
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