Russian athletes that have changed nationalities

[Grassmarket 4,305]

Oh dear oh dear.  Going to be ructions with this one.  Established international diver Sofia Lyskun wants to transfer from..... to !  

 

Somehow I think the three year rule will be enforced.

 

Sofiia Lyskun: Ukrainian federation 'expresses deep indignation' after champion diver switches to Russia - BBC Sport

Edited December 5, 2025 by Grassmarket

[avlar 586]

4 hours ago, Grassmarket said:

Oh dear oh dear.  Going to be ructions with this one.  Established international diver Sofia Lyskun wants to transfer from..... to !  

 

Somehow I think the three year rule will be enforced.

 

Sofiia Lyskun: Ukrainian federation 'expresses deep indignation' after champion diver switches to Russia - BBC Sport

Surely. Her first coach now works in russia (and grandma lives in russia according to Sereda). They were in contact and despite of full funding from  the girl decided to become the star of russian propaganda. 


As I saw in X:
"It took the Russians four years of war to find a relatively well-known sports personality to carry out such a propaganda operation."

Edited December 5, 2025 by avlar

[heywoodu 16,465]

5 hours ago, Grassmarket said:

Oh dear oh dear.  Going to be ructions with this one.  Established international diver Sofia Lyskun wants to transfer from..... to !  

 

Somehow I think the three year rule will be enforced.

 

Sofiia Lyskun: Ukrainian federation 'expresses deep indignation' after champion diver switches to Russia - BBC Sport

 

Ukrainian diver Lyskun switches allegiance to Russia, loses all medals | Olympics News | Al Jazeera

 

'loses all medals'

 

I would assume Al Jazeera could have been a bit clearer and mention this would presumably only be national medals. I mean, it's not like the Ukrainian federation, or any single federation for that matter, has the power to strip her of her world and European championships medals I hope (not for her sake, but because that would be a super weird precedent)  

[avlar 586]

21 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

 

Ukrainian diver Lyskun switches allegiance to Russia, loses all medals | Olympics News | Al Jazeera

 

'loses all medals'

 

I would assume Al Jazeera could have been a bit clearer and mention this would presumably only be national medals. I mean, it's not like the Ukrainian federation, or any single federation for that matter, has the power to strip her of her world and European championships medals I hope (not for her sake, but because that would be a super weird precedent)  

I think they incorrectly translated Ukrainian word "nahorody" - it is not a full synonym of "medal". Its cocrrect translation is "award".

Meanwhile russian tennis playes switched for

Potapova -> 

Rakhimova -> 
 

[Monzanator 5,127]

What are the odds WTA/ITF has Kostyuk vs Potapova AO R1 just to see if the hand shake happens? 

[copravolley 644]

16 hours ago, avlar said:

Surely. Her first coach now works in russia (and grandma lives in russia according to Sereda). They were in contact and despite of full funding from  the girl decided to become the star of russian propaganda. 


As I saw in X:
"It took the Russians four years of war to find a relatively well-known sports personality to carry out such a propaganda operation."

She comes from Luhansk, which was probably the most pro-Russian city in all of Ukraine. It's strange, though, that she fled to Kyiv in 2014 and continued start for Ukraine after 2022. She must have been in hiding well, right? It's very strange, because she knew perfectly well that the case would be exploited politically. I doubt she will ever compete in any diving competitions again. 

 

Long tim ago, such movements were quite popular, both in different directions, but this stopped after 2015. In the past, many Russians in biathlon would go to Ukraine if they didn't make the national team and in the mid-1990s, a few Ukrainian footballers went to play in Russia, in volleyball etc.

Edited December 6, 2025 by copravolley

[copravolley 644]

15 hours ago, heywoodu said:

 

Ukrainian diver Lyskun switches allegiance to Russia, loses all medals | Olympics News | Al Jazeera

 

'loses all medals'

 

I would assume Al Jazeera could have been a bit clearer and mention this would presumably only be national medals. I mean, it's not like the Ukrainian federation, or any single federation for that matter, has the power to strip her of her world and European championships medals I hope (not for her sake, but because that would be a super weird precedent)  

After 2015 was created a list of suspicious people from Ukraine who support Russia, or something like that? For example, people from Ukraine who played for sports clubs in Russia were included there, and by 2022, there were still quite a few such people. For example, this girl was listed there and probably still is, who now is still the captain of the Ukrainian women's national team - after 2022, she finally left Russia: https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/apanashhenko-darya-aleksandrovna/

Edited December 6, 2025 by copravolley

[copravolley 644]

17 hours ago, avlar said:

Surely. Her first coach now works in russia (and grandma lives in russia according to Sereda). They were in contact and despite of full funding from  the girl decided to become the star of russian propaganda. 


As I saw in X:
"It took the Russians four years of war to find a relatively well-known sports personality to carry out such a propaganda operation."

https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/apanashhenko-darya-aleksandrovna/

 

Can you write more about this list and whether it is still being maintained?

[avlar 586]

On 12/6/2025 at 2:00 AM, copravolley said:

She comes from Luhansk, which was probably the most pro-Russian city in all of Ukraine. It's strange, though, that she fled to Kyiv in 2014 and continued start for Ukraine after 2022. She must have been in hiding well, right? It's very strange, because she knew perfectly well that the case would be exploited politically. I doubt she will ever compete in any diving competitions again. 

 

Long tim ago, such movements were quite popular, both in different directions, but this stopped after 2015. In the past, many Russians in biathlon would go to Ukraine if they didn't make the national team and in the mid-1990s, a few Ukrainian footballers went to play in Russia, in volleyball etc.

We had no real problems with russians for a long time. It was a normal sport rivalry.
It was common case that statues of russian politicians and poets remained in place even in the Western Ukraine which was joined by the Soviet Union much later.

Lyskun was pro-Ukrainian according to her statement but she kept conctcts with her former coach. That coach moved to russia earlier and could do some brainwashing. I would say that the coach may have financial motivation to do this.
By the way we had similar case with Bondar from Luhansk who moved to russia in 2014.

What is really interesting - russians have a lot of resources but it took them 4 yeats to find someone relatively well-known in sport area to stage this propaganda performance.

 

On 12/6/2025 at 2:12 AM, copravolley said:

After 2015 was created a list of suspicious people from Ukraine who support Russia, or something like that? For example, people from Ukraine who played for sports clubs in Russia were included there, and by 2022, there were still quite a few such people. For example, this girl was listed there and probably still is, who now is still the captain of the Ukrainian women's national team - after 2022, she finally left Russia: https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/apanashhenko-darya-aleksandrovna/

 

On 12/6/2025 at 2:13 AM, copravolley said:

https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/apanashhenko-darya-aleksandrovna/

 

Can you write more about this list and whether it is still being maintained?

 

Yes, this web-site is active and maintained. The list is beeing updated. But it is not an official goverment resource and it is operated by the non-goverment organization. It was created to draw attention of the national security services to the activities of some people and provide some initial foundations for further formal investigations.

[copravolley 644]

10 hours ago, avlar said:

We had no real problems with russians for a long time. It was a normal sport rivalry.
It was common case that statues of russian politicians and poets remained in place even in the Western Ukraine which was joined by the Soviet Union much later.

Lyskun was pro-Ukrainian according to her statement but she kept conctcts with her former coach. That coach moved to russia earlier and could do some brainwashing. I would say that the coach may have financial motivation to do this.
By the way we had similar case with Bondar from Luhansk who moved to russia in 2014.

What is really interesting - russians have a lot of resources but it took them 4 yeats to find someone relatively well-known in sport area to stage this propaganda performance.

 

 

 

Yes, this web-site is active and maintained. The list is beeing updated. But it is not an official goverment resource and it is operated by the non-goverment organization. It was created to draw attention of the national security services to the activities of some people and provide some initial foundations for further formal investigations.

There was also Tymoshchuk, I think, but he simply lives in Russia and doesn't say anything publicly. Second, he retired a long time ago.

 

Generally for me, it's important to distinguish that simply staying in Crimea, for example, isn't as serious a crime as war crimes or working for Russia, for example, by informing. The fact that the current captain of the Women Ukrainian football team was a sport camp in Crimea in 2016 shows that even in Ukraine, no one treats it as a serious offense.

Edited December 11, 2025 by copravolley