Thursday morning, the New York Times’ Matt Flegenheimer published an article featuring a comprehensive look at Alex Ovechkin’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. Flegenheimer focuses on Ovechkin’s recent creation of the “Putin Team,” a social campaign to help reelect the Russian president for another term in office.
“Putin’s Team is Putin’s Team,” Mr. Ovechkin said to the Times in an exclusive interview. “It is just for people who support the country, and basically it’s a simple thing.”
But Flegenheimer presents just how complex this “simple” gesture is, speaking to Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ovechkin’s friends, and American government officials. Every person interviewed shares a different perspective and a possible motivation behind the movement. Like a good episode of Law & Order: SVU, you’re not sure what to think when you’re finished reading.
I was also interviewed in the story and use the five-dollar word “compartmentalize.” So please give it a read. It’s worth your time, especially because it ends how every article about Ovechkin should end: with the phrase Russian machine never breaks.
The story should appear in the print edition of the New York Times on Saturday.
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