“It’s just such a tragedy,” Victoria Petrenko said of the crisis in Ukraine, her voice choking with emotion. “He says he tries to stay inside. For now, it’s OK. I’ve been trying to get him to leave, but I don’t think the situations at the borders are easy. I hope he’s able to leave safely soon.”
March 1, 2022, 10:28 p.m. ET
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.
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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.”
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.”