Russian producer Rudkovskaya addresses son's move to Azerbaijan team

Russian music producer Yana Rudkovskaya said her son, figure skater Alexander Plushenko, holds Azerbaijani sporting citizenship.

Speaking to journalists, Rudkovskaya said the passport was issued under previous regulations and is valid for five years, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

“Alexander Plushenko received an Azerbaijani passport under the previous regulations, valid for five years as a sporting nationality,” she said.

She added that the five-year period will expire when her son moves from the junior to the senior category in 2031 and noted that he is too young to compete at the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Alexander has had limited participation in official competitions. On January 25, 2025, Plushenko's son won an event in which he was the sole competitor. Competing in the boys' first sports category, he was the only entrant in his division and scored 160.69 points across two programmes.

In late February 2025, he finished 18th at the S.A. Zhuk Memorial Tournament, the Russian children's championships.

Earlier, sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev said he did not believe Russian figure skaters would return to international competition in the foreseeable future.

By Aghakazim Guliyev