Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
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If anyone wants some context for the 2014 issues (which I don't recall at the time):
https://www.vox.com/2014/8/28/607936...-putin-ukraine
https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...140054207.html
Quote:
“I don’t want a war. Ukrainian and Russian people are close people and we have a war right now. That’s it.”
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"I don't try to make a statement," Ovechkin told ESPN.com. "Right now, as a Russian, I have lots of friends from Ukraine. I just don't want a war. Nobody wants a war. Especially when people are so close. It's hard to see especially when you live so close to Ukraine. It's hard and it's dangerous. People die."
"We watch the news all the time," Ovechkin said. "It's hard. I have lots of friends up there. The people who live there, they don't want war. They just want to have a good life like all of us."
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He was definitely complicit in a propaganda campaign (again, I question the extent to which he was aware of, researched, or critically thought about the issues - as I imagine many athletes don't do when making endorsements, either), but his statements were reasonable.