Russian synchronised swimmer who held flag at London 2012 flees country with ‘no plans to return’

Vladimir Putin’s favorite synchronized swimmer, who carried Russia’s flag at the 2012 London Olympics, has fled the country with no plans to return.

Anastasia Davydova, 39, five-time gold medalist and current Secretary General of the Russian Olympic Committee [ROC]has shocked the Kremlin by joining thousands who crossed the border in the wake of Putin’s mobilization order.

Her decision is seen as related to Putin’s war in Ukraine, but she has so far made no statement.

A pro-Kremlin media outlet went on the attack, accusing the “deserter” of “ugly” behavior.

Similarly, a top Russian judge has left the country’s constitutional court as the country’s elite desert its tyrannical president.

Konstantin Aranovsky resigned at age 57, although the official retirement age is 70, and the constitutional court will soon assess the legality of Putin’s impending annexation of Ukraine.

Russian Federation Vice President for Synchronized Swimming, Olga Brusnikina, said “everyone is shocked” at Davydova’s sudden departure.

Davydova carried the Russian flag at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, where she also won gold.

She also won gold in Athens in 2004, in Beijing in 2008 and is 13 times world champion.

Davydova was awarded an Order of Merit from Putin last year, and her decision to leave Russia is a major symbolic blow to the Kremlin leader.

In 2019, she received him at the synchronized swimming center in Russia named after her.

Davydova is 39 years old and the same age as other gold medalist Alina Kabaeva, the Olympic gymnast widely regarded as Putin’s longtime lover with whom she has been photographed.

Her war protest decision is a further indication of growing domestic unrest over Putin’s war and his recent mobilization movement, and the imminent illegal annexation of parts of Ukrainian territory.

It goes against ROC president Stanislav Pozdnyakov – a staunch war supporter – who said athletes should be honored when called up to fight.

Vasily Konov, deputy general producer of the Match TV channel, announced the departure of Davydov.

“Five-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion Anastasia Davydova has left Russia,” he said.

“Match TV has a scan of a letter regarding Davydova’s departure from Russia, stating that she has no intention of returning.”

Tatyana Pokrovskaya, head of the Russian national team synchronized swimming coach, said: ‘I am completely ignorant and confused.

‘This is a surprise to me. I can’t even say anything about this.’

Loyalist KP Sports criticized her move, commenting: “It could hardly be expected that at the most difficult moment in the history of national sport, one of the most self-titled athletes in our history, synchronized swimmer Anastasia Davydova, would leave the country. .’

It said she had violated “obligations” for Russian sports.

“Anastasia worked in the Russian Olympic Committee – she held the position of general secretary,” the critical article reads.

‘She also had a position with the Synchronized Swimming Federation of Russia.

‘She also led the synchronized swimming training centre, which is named after her.

Anastasia carried the Russian flag during the closing ceremony at the 2012 London Olympics.

“And now she’s left the country without notifying anyone… It’s just ugly to behave like that.”

But Russia’s most famous figure skating trainer, Tatiana Tarasova, said, “This is a personal matter for each individual.”

It is not immediately clear when Davydova left Russia, nor her current location.

Last week, iconic Russian singer Alla Pugacheva became the country’s biggest showbiz name to oppose his bloody war with Ukraine.

The star, 73, denounced the Kremlin leader for sending soldiers to their deaths for “illusory purposes” and turning her country into a “pariah state.”

She demanded that Russia call her a “foreign agent” for her attack.

The Russian constitutional court is expected to soon follow parliament in approving the daring land grab that is considered illegal in Ukraine and the West.

Aranovsky – the youngest judge in the constitutional court – was known for his independent and Kremlin-critical views.

But in 2020, judges were allowed to publish dissenting opinions.

The judge was appointed to the court in 2010 by former president Dmitry Medvedev, with whom he had studied law at graduate school.

Medvedev is now seen as a war hawk amid suspicions he envisions a comeback as president if rumors of Putin’s ill health turn out to be true.

Russian lawyers reportedly saw his resignation as a ‘demarche’ – an unusual political protest against Putin during his war with Ukraine.

In 2019, a Kremlin banned foreigners from working in the media as a “sign of censorship.”

He also published an opinion arguing that Russia should not be seen as the successor to the Soviet authorities’ “repressive-terrorist acts”.