Imagine for a moment an American hockey superstar advocating support for Russia’s initial war against Ukraine, which has evolved into the most terrible destructive war in Europe since World War II. Unfortunately, this is not imaginary. Alex Ovechkin, captain for the Washington Capitals hockey team recently broke the NHL’s all-time scoring record. But his political involvement with Russian President Vladimir Putin and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine mars the celebration. Ovechkin, originally from Russia, is no stranger to controversary. Back in 2014, while on the Capitals’ roster, he supported Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine with a Kremlin orchestrated campaign: “# Protect children from Fascism.” Ovechkin was promoting a (Putin) farce that Ukraine was overrun with fascist Nazis threatening Russia’s existence. This “Nazi excuse” became the rallying cry for Russian troops to invade Ukraine and terrorize civilians. In 2017, Ovechkin along with other Russian celebrities participated in a social networking group called “Putin’s Team,” actively promoting Putin’s reelection. Ovechkin became a propaganda tool for a dictator (Putin) aiming to destroy democratic civilizations. Why are hockey fans worshiping Ovechkin like he’s God? Ovechkin has been living well in America for decades. Since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine American taxpayers spent roughly $200 billion helping Ukraine defend itself against Ovechkin and Putin’s rapacious Russia. Anyone who cares about the sanctity of life should be outraged. Putin’s war is not an ordinary war; it’s civilian genocide that engages in the systematic abduction of children. Ukraine has identified at least 20,000 Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia but the actual number is likely far higher. Currently Vladimir Putin is a wanted war criminal by the International Criminal Court for his role of abducting Ukrainian children. In 2023, Russia’s Minister of Child Affairs, Maria Lvova-Belova, also a wanted war criminal, admitted that Russia had taken 700,000 Ukrainian children. No one knows how many were forcibly kidnapped or tortured. The horrors of Putin’s war against children are unimaginable. Russian forces often seize Ukrainian children putting them into militaristic “reeducation camps.” Separated from their family, they lose their Ukrainian identity. In February 2024, Rostislav Lavrov, told NPR’s morning edition that he was placed in six-foot square cell for resisting a terrifying Russification process. When Russia initiated its full-scale invasion against Ukraine in 2022, Ovechkin went into damage control mode. He issued public statements such as “Please no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war, Russia, Ukraine, different countries. We have to live in peace.” Noticeably absent was his failure to directly blame the instigator, Russia. Putin uses celebrity athletes for propaganda. It’s actually a soft weapon aimed to lure Westerners into complacency to divert attention away from Russia’s genocide. This resembles Hitler’s showcase at the 1936 Berlin Olympics which fueled Germany’s Nazi mania. Another one of Putin’s showcase athletes is Kamila Valieva, a Russian Olympic skater currently banned from international competition for doping. She recently staged an event with the “Movement of the First,” a controversial youth organization controlled by Vladimir Putin. It was sanctioned for its militaristic brainwashing and complicity with abducting Ukrainian children. A google search of “Ovechkin and Putin together” reveals several smiling photos of the duo. He appears to be a Putin cheerleader simply out of personal sympathy – thus diminishing the theory that he’s doing it because of retaliatory concerns for his relatives remaining in Russia. In early April, Putin issued celebrity congratulations via the Kremlin to acknowledge Ovechkin’s NHL record breaking 895 goals. Sadly, while Ovechkin and Putin were celebrating, families in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine mourned the deaths of 9 children killed by a Russian missile. Perhaps, Ovechkin should apologize, not to his fans but for the universal sake of all children. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.