Russian figure skating news in 2026

miffy said:
Surely he’s a lot better than he appears in that video though? He doesn’t look like a competitive junior skater at all there (although it can’t be easy skating on a ‘rink’ the size of a frozen puddle). I clearly remember us all laughing at Plushy while watching Eurovision that year. He only pulled it off as a performance because of his self confidence. Epic flail to the max ;)
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That's Gnom Gnomych at Mishin's 85th birthday show. Judge for yourself: https://youtu.be/fZ2Ygj8Mv5M?si=4q_DuEJHkd64ggn7
 
miffy said:
Thank you very much! :)

I can definitely see the Plushy resemblance there but probably a good decision to skate for AZE.
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There's a Plushenko resemblance because he's been skating Plushenko's old programs including Sex Bomb for years, but he's a mediocre skater. Given he's been performing since he was like 5, he'd be much better by now, but no. They've got the youngest one on the shows now too. Plushenko had innate talent, but he worked his a$$ off for Mishin. The atmosphere for his kids are way different and that's not bad for the kids as there was a lot of bullying by older skaters when Plushenko was a kid. But, the talent simply isn't there. So, he skates for another country and might get to compete in some minor competitions, but he's not going to win them. Russia has some incredible junior talent which given they haven't been able to compete with their international peers, but are determined to be ready to do so some day. Plushenko knows this and knows it would be embarrasing for his kid to end up dead last in the Russian events, so this was a way to save the family ego. His, his wife's, and the kid. And, I find it amusing that anybody would care.

My cousin decided he was going to be a country singing star when he was a teenager. He was not. But, his parents were into cattle showing and they held an annual banquet and sale. My cousin was the entertainment every year It was painful. Eventually, he moved on to other things and all were happy he did so. So, parents try to help their kids out even when they shouldn't.
 
Ka3sha said:
By ecstatic, you mean the ones calling Liza an old hag who is trying to stay relevant and uses Petr. And how he is a poor, naive guy who fell for the trap :lol:
Also, she is there coaching the kids at Raf's rink
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She’s 29, he’s 24. So what? If the ages were reversed no one would kick up a fuss. The detractors act like there is a twenty year age difference. Five years is nothing.
 
Ananas Astra said:
That's Gnom Gnomych at Mishin's 85th birthday show. Judge for yourself: https://youtu.be/fZ2Ygj8Mv5M?si=4q_DuEJHkd64ggn7
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Not bad for an Azerbaijani skater. Artistically not that much worse than the current OC.)
Sasha Plu skates at his father's private rink, not a state rink, meaning he is not using tax payers' money. He is not taking anyone's place at Azeri team simply because there are zero skaters left with imported from Russia Litvintsev retired. He is not hurting anyone with this transfer. People care because of his father's status as a patriot. Now he will be at ISU events and everyone will see Putin's buddy Plushenko in K&C rather than Sasha. That is what hurts some people. But it's their problem. Sport-wise it was the right decision because of his little chances to win anything inside Russia with its amazingly strongest field. The fact that the parents gave him an opportunity to earn good bucks from early years in ice shows is a good parenting. Also an annoying thing for some people
 
SakuraHere said:
Not bad for an Azerbaijani skater. Artistically not that much worse than the current OC.)
Sasha Plu skates at his father's private rink, not a state rink, meaning he is not using tax payers' money. He is not taking anyone's place at Azeri team simply because there are zero skaters left with imported from Russia Litvintsev retired. He is not hurting anyone with this transfer. People care because of his father's status as a patriot. Now he will be at ISU events and everyone will see Putin's buddy Plushenko in K&C rather than Sasha. That is what hurts some people. But it's their problem. Sport-wise it was the right decision because of his little chances to win anything inside Russia with its amazingly strongest field. The fact that the parents gave him an opportunity to earn good bucks from early years in ice shows is a good parenting. Also an annoying thing for some people
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Honestly I don’t care 🤷‍♀️ about any of this. But who do you think will win the men comp in Russian nationals this year?
 
Ananas Astra said:
The Plushenkos are getting a lot of online hate and ridicule because Plush Jr. performed with Dima Bilan, trying to re-create his dad's performance at Eurovision back in 2008 and...well...didn't exactly succeed https://www.instagram.com/p/DYrcEBgI4LJ/

It's obvious he isn't as talented as his father and people are cruel. Why are Plush and Yana doing this to him?
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That doesn't look like real ice to me, my guess is it isn't because he isn't able to glide at all. He can't really "skate" on whatever it is.
 
SakuraHere said:
Not bad for an Azerbaijani skater. Artistically not that much worse than the current OC.)
Sasha Plu skates at his father's private rink, not a state rink, meaning he is not using tax payers' money. He is not taking anyone's place at Azeri team simply because there are zero skaters left with imported from Russia Litvintsev retired. He is not hurting anyone with this transfer. People care because of his father's status as a patriot. Now he will be at ISU events and everyone will see Putin's buddy Plushenko in K&C rather than Sasha. That is what hurts some people. But it's their problem. Sport-wise it was the right decision because of his little chances to win anything inside Russia with its amazingly strongest field. The fact that the parents gave him an opportunity to earn good bucks from early years in ice shows is a good parenting. Also an annoying thing for some people
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I guess that Alexander Plushenko is now eligible for JGP.

I am so looking forward to his results.

This kid is used to "winning" because he almost only participated in competitions that were either organized or sponsored by "Angels of Plushenko" or because he didn't have any opponents.

Since this would never happen at "real" competitions with Russian juniors eating Plush Jr. like cake, the switch to Azerbaijan is probably a good idea because the kid might get a reality check from hell there.

My sister described Alexander Plushenko as a "loser who doesn't even have quads at his age, while Tutberidze's girls are doing them and he has the charisma of a toilet bowl."
 
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He is clearly not as talented as his dad was, and is definitely not on the level of current Russian junior guys. I don't think him switching to Aze is a big deal besides the point that Pluschenko was the one saying to the press a few years ago that athletes should be real patriots in these difficult times, and should not consider representing other countries

To be fair to Pluschenko jr, he had competed at the bigger events a season ago and placed 18th (out of 23) at the novice nationals in 2024/25. He hasn't competed much this season, but now it's kinda obvious why
 
Cachoo said:
She’s 29, he’s 24. So what? If the ages were reversed no one would kick up a fuss. The detractors act like there is a twenty year age difference. Five years is nothing.
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I think it's mostly because it's a woman who is older, and skating-wise, they feel like two completely different generations. And Liza was considered "old" since she was what, 20?
But also partly because he got some crazy new fans after the Olympics. Skating to Onegin, being a son of an orthodox priest, an IT student, a golden boy or whatever.
And then you get Liza, with some programs or photoshoots that might seem too provocative to the general public, who are too used to 15-year-old fairies on the ice. Who is also an outspoken woman with a certain position on women's rights, abortion, etc.

Anyway, it should not matter, and I am happy for them.
 
2026/27 National Team

Main (alphabetical order)
Men: Matvei Vetlugin, Petr Gumennik, Mark Kondratiuk, Gleb Litfullin, Andrei Mozalev, Evgeny Semenenko
Women: Alisa Dvoeglazova, Maria Zakharova, Adeliia Petrosyan, Daria Sadkova, Anna Frolova, Dina Khusnutdinova
Pairs: Artemieva/Briukhabov, Boikova/Kozlovskii, Mishina/Gallyamov, Mukhortova/Evgeniev, Osokina/Gritsaenko, Chikmareva/Yanchenkov
Ice Dance: Kaganovskaia/Nekrasov, Mironova/Ustenko, Pasechnik/Chirizano, Stepanova/Bukin, Shichina/Drozd, Scherbakova/Goncahrov

Reserve
Men: Vladislav Dikidzhi, Lev Lazarev, Nikita Sarnovsky, Nikolai Ugozhaev, Grigory Fedorov, Aleksandr Chmil
Women: Kamila Valieva, Aleksandra Ignatova (Trusova), Alina Gorbacheva, Ksenia Guschina, Kamilla Nelyubova, Alina Prineva
Pairs: Khabibullina/Knyazhuk, Sabada/Astakhov, Scherbinina/Petrov, Dvinina/Potapov, Kamaldinova/Marishin
Ice Dance: Khvronina/Narizhny, Leontieva/Gorelkin, Grigorieva/Artiuschenko, Rybakova/Makhnonosov, Zhdanova/Babaev-Smirnov, Kuzmina/Studelkin, Bilibina/Kashev
 
Makar Ignatov joined team Tutberidze training camp (with his wife), and has confirmed the coaching change on his social media

Alisa Dvoeglazova will miss the first half of the season due to a hip injury

Arseni Fedotov has left Eteri Tutberidze and is rumoured to move to Alexei Mishin. Mishin has commented saying that the final decision hasn't been made yet
 
Ka3sha said:
Makar Ignatov joined team Tutberidze training camp (with his wife), and has confirmed the coaching change on his social media

Alisa Dvoeglazova will miss the first half of the season due to a hip injury

Arseni Fedotov has left Eteri Tutberidze and is rumoured to move to Alexei Mishin. Mishin has commented saying that the final decision hasn't been made yet
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I hope things work out for Arseni and Artem. Arseni and Lev are the most promising talents in Russian figure skating.
 
I think Dudikov has maybe taught Fedotov all he can and a move to Mishin would be a good next step in his development. He's insanely talented.

Ignatov doesn't have his wife's drive so a move to the high pressure situation at Tutberidze's school will be interesting. Maybe he can make it though a full LP without running out of energy in the middle of the program.
 
Well here's a collection of news I found
1] Gummenik posted on his instagram that he completed the staging of his SP with Shae Lynn Bourne
2] JGP slots will be decided at a test skate on July 28-31 in Novogorsk [RIA Novosti]
3] Moscow Figure Skating Federation published its roster -- Valieva and Trusova are listed on senior team; this has raised speculation that Valieva has chance to be cleared as AIN
4] Alexander Plushenko's Azerbaijan transfer is complete with clearance certificate in hand
 
spin2win said:
Maria Zakharova is doing a bootcamp with Rafael Arutyunyan over the next 2 weeks. This was apparently set up directly by the RusFed president Sikharulidze. She was spotted in front of "Great Park Ice" in a photo with Samodelkina after they both did Donovan Carrillo's show in Mexico.

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I hope she has a great season. I've been a fan since she was a junior. Then came the injury and the ban which may have been a blessing in disguise for her as it let her fully heal. Plus, we get to see Tsareva when she skates.
 
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