How a Russian National Ended Up Carrying Ukraine’s Sign at the Winter Olympic Games Ceremony

Organizers of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games permitted Anastasia Kucherova, a Russian national living in Milan, to carry the Ukrainian team placard during the opening ceremony, the Associated Press reported on February 17.

Kucherova, an architect who has lived in Milan for 14 years, was dressed in a long, hooded silver puffer coat with dark glasses, matching the attire worn by placard bearers representing the 92 nations competing in the Olympics.

The illuminated Ukraine sign was clearly visible to the crowd as she led the five Ukrainian athletes into San Siro stadium to sustained applause. Her nationality was not announced during the ceremony, and she was not recognizable to spectators.

Initially, country assignments for volunteers were set to be random. However, after the choreographer later asked whether anyone had a preference, Kucherova chose to represent Ukraine.

According to Associated Press, the Ukrainian athletes immediately identified her as Russian and addressed her in Russian, despite not being informed of her background. She described this as evidence of “some profound connection” between Russians and Ukrainians “that obviously could live on if not for the war.”

The act, that could potentially be considered as insensitive by Ukrainians, followed the controversy surrounding Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych has also been amplified by an apparent coordinated disinformation campaign attributed to the Russian-aligned bot network known as “Matryoshka.”

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Anti-Fake

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According to a February 16 report by The Insider, the network launched a targeted online operation following Heraskevych’s disqualification from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, seeking to weaponize the incident to erode international backing for Ukraine.

Among the falsified content was a fabricated report bearing the ISW logo, which falsely alleged that a military flashmob in support of Heraskevych had exposed Ukrainian troop positions and resulted in casualties. Additional manipulated narratives claimed that the International Olympic Committee was considering a blanket ban on the Ukrainian national team for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Earlier, Vladyslav Heraskevych was removed from competition ahead of his opening run at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Heraskevych had planned to take to the track in his “memorial helmet,” honoring Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine. He was subsequently excluded from the start list, and the event went ahead without his participation.

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