OREANDA-NEWS  Russian figure skating star Alexandra Trusova had hoped to visit to Sweden in order to take part in a youth training program, but instead found herself 'cancelled' by local authorities.

The local sports association Djurgаrden's IF referred to a “values conflict” in its explanation, despite the fact that 18-year-old Trusova had never made any political statements.Somewhat ironically, Djurgаrden's IF said that their vision is to “enable all children and young people to practice the sport regardless of background, ethnicity or financial conditions” and emphasized that figure skating is for “everyone”.

More than 80 percent of tickets for the event had been sold weeks in advance. The decision to cancel an obviously non-political event sparked outrage.“I can only sympathize with Swedish figure skating fans. They won't see Sasha Trusova, who could give them a new impetus to the development of the sport in their country,” Alexander Kogan, Director General of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, told Russian media.Alexandra Trusova, who celebrated her 18th birthday last month, won the silver medal in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing in the women's singles figure skating championship.In the wake of Moscow's operation to protect the inhabitants of Russian-speaking Donbass from Kiev's atrocities, Russian athletes have seen blanket bans in a number of sports associations, ranging from football basketball and track-and-field to ice hockey, skating and skiing, despite vocal pledges that sport remains above politics and should serve a means of bridging gaps between nations.

A wave of similarly indiscriminate bans and cancellations has affected Russian cultural luminaries, with museums and film festivals removing Russian entries from their respective programs. Sometimes, the “Cancel Russia” movement reaches outright ludicrous levels, such as National Gallery's attempt to rename the “Russian Dancers” painting by Edgar Degas “Ukrainian Dancers” – a decision widely slammed as an act of Russophobia.