Russian Living in Milan Makes Bold Statement for Ukraine at Winter Olympics

In a powerful act of silent protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Anastasia Kucherova, a Russian architect living in Milan, carried the Ukraine team placard during the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Kucherova, who has called Milan home for 14 years, was among dozens of volunteers who led national delegations into San Siro stadium. Like all placard bearers, she was dressed in a long, hooded silver puffer coat with dark glasses concealing her identity—but her choice to specifically request Ukraine’s sign carried profound significance.

“When you walk by the side of these people you realize they have every human right to feel hatred towards any Russian,” Kucherova told the Associated Press. “Still, I think it’s important to do even a small action to show them that maybe not all the people are thinking the same way.”

The moment was particularly poignant as Ukraine’s small delegation of five athletes entered the stadium to thunderous applause. Among them were flag bearer Yelyzaveta Sydorko, a short track speedskater, and figure skater Kyrylo Marsak—both athletes whose fathers are currently fighting on Ukraine’s front lines as the war approaches its fourth anniversary.

Just before entering the stadium, Kucherova turned to the Ukrainian athletes and told them the entire stadium would give them a standing ovation. Though they appeared skeptical, the prediction proved true as spectators rose to their feet in a powerful show of support.

“It felt like the entire stadium was recognizing their independence, recognizing their will for freedom, their courage in making it all the way to the Olympics,” said Kucherova, who silently wept behind her dark glasses during the emotional moment.

Her decision to reveal her role publicly coincided with the second anniversary of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in prison. For Kucherova, speaking out serves as a reminder that the war continues even as daily life goes on elsewhere in the world.

“Ukrainians don’t have any possibility to avoid these thoughts or to ignore the existence of war. So it is their reality,” she explained. “They keep loving each other, getting married or doing sports, coming to the Olympics. But all of this is happening against a devastating background.”

What made the encounter even more striking was how the Ukrainian athletes immediately recognized Kucherova’s Russian origins and addressed her in Russian—a sign that Kucherova interpreted as evidence of a “profound connection” between Russians and Ukrainians “that obviously could live on if not for the war.”

Kucherova, who hasn’t visited Russia since 2018, acknowledges the personal risk in making such a public statement against the Putin regime. Russian authorities have increasingly cracked down on dissenters, both within Russia and abroad.

“I have to be worried about this, and I’m supposed to be scared about this. And I cannot guarantee that me speaking out will not harm any people I know,” she said. “But what I think is that if I, living in a democratic country and enjoying all the freedoms, if I am scared, this means that the regime has won.”

In an interesting twist of fate, Kucherova also carried the sign for Denmark, another nation that received enthusiastic cheers, though for different geopolitical reasons—Denmark’s resistance to U.S. pressure regarding Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.

Her small act of defiance exemplifies how the Olympic Games, despite their apolitical ideals, often become a stage for powerful political statements and expressions of international solidarity during times of conflict.