New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence from the NHL team after allegations surfaced in Russia that he beat an 18-year-old woman in 2011.
Panarin is one of the few Russian athletes to publicly criticize Vladimir Putin and his team suggested that the assault charges are a defamatory tactic to punish the player.
“Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all charges in this made-up story,” the Rangers said in a statement on Monday. “This is clearly an intimidation tactic used against him for being frank about recent political events.
“Artemi is obviously shaken and worried and is going to get away from the team a bit. The Rangers fully support Artemi and will work with him to identify the source of these baseless claims. “
Although Panarin lives in the United States, he still has a family in Russia.
Panarin recently posted the message “Freedom for Navalny” on Instagram in reference to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition figure who was arrested earlier this month in what many saw as a mock trial.
The retribution was feared after Panarin’s Instagram post on January 21 in support of opposition leader Alexi Navalny with the caption “Freedom for Navalny”. Panarin, who has a family in Russia, was openly against Putin.
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Panarin, like Navalny, is a longtime critic of the Russian president. “The mistake of our society is to treat [Putin] as a superhuman, “said Panarin in 2019.” He’s a normal person, like us, and he’s serving us … Yes, to be a president you have to be smart and enlightened, but our biggest mistake, among many , is thinking that we have no one better than Vladimir Vladimirovich. It makes no sense. How many millions of people live here? Without a doubt, there is someone better. “
In the same interview, Panarin said that many in Russia would see him as a “foreign agent” for his views and also attacked his country’s progress under Putin.
“American cities are developing thanks to local taxes that are in the state,” he said. “But here, a lot of money goes to Moscow, so people everywhere work for the benefit of Moscow. I always thought it was unfair. “
Panarin’s stance is in stark contrast to Russia’s biggest hockey star, Alex Ovechkin, who has a close relationship with Putin, even founding a movement, PutinTeam, to support the president.
Putin is a hockey fan and appeared in television viewing games alongside businessmen, politicians and former NHL stars. During a participation in a 2019 game, the 66-year-old scored at least eight goals against suspiciously flexible opponents.