Zagitova’s “no longer updated Insta” shows impact of warfare

The Instagram account of Russia’s Alina Zagitova, who won gold in women’s figure skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, has stopped updating. Zagitova is an Instagrammer with 1.13 million followers and is known as a pro-Japan person and has many Japanese fans.

Some of her fans may be upset because she attended the Beijing Olympics held last month as a reporter and uploaded daily updates on the event. With the situation in Ukraine worsening day by day, we wonder if it had something to do with it….

Zagitova is a figure skater born in 2002; at the young age of 15 years and 9 months, she won the gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. However, her performance subsequently declined due to a poor performance and she decided to temporarily suspend her participation in competitions. She did not just retire, but commented that she had no intention of standing still or leaving. In the meantime, she participated in ice shows and other events.

Now, Zagitova was whitewashed as a reporter at the Beijing Olympics. Zagitova posted a photo on her Instagram with the ice rink in the background. Zagitova spread her arms out comfortably and wrote, “Beijing 2022! This is where the Olympics will start. I miss it. I am so happy to be immersed in this atmosphere again,” she wrote, reporting that she was enjoying herself.

Shortly thereafter, Russia invaded Ukraine. Various sanctions were imposed on the country amidst concentrated criticism of Russia. The government’s outburst has had a major impact on the lives of ordinary Russian citizens.

Under such circumstances, it seems that social networking services of Western companies are difficult to use in Russia, perhaps due to information control by Russia. Zagitova recently created an account on Telegram, a social networking service originating in Russia, to send messages, but what are her feelings about this?

It is truly tragic that athletes are affected by war. Her Instagram, which is no longer being updated, seems to speak to that sadness.