Putin scandal at the Olympics: "Politically highly dramatic moment" towards Ukraine athletes
Created: 2022-02-04 21:44
Vladimir Putin looked a little sleepy at the Olympic opening ceremony - when Ukraine arrived.
© Alexei Druzhinin / picture alliance
The first excitement at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing: Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted in a special way to the invasion of the Ukrainian athletes.
Beijing - It was the moment many had been waiting for at the Olympic Games opening ceremony: the entry of Ukraine's athletes into the "Bird's Nest" national stadium in Beijing, and how Russian President Vladimir Putin would react to it.
After all, Putin is one of the few heads of state to attend the games.
The Ukraine conflict threatens to escalate into full-scale war.
And what does Putin do?
He's sleeping.
Or at least he pretended.
Was that intentional, a provocation?
The maskless Russian ruler - despite the strict Chinese corona rules - apparently chose exactly this point in time to briefly close his eyes in front of the whole world.
The picture immediately went around the world.
For example, Britain's
Daily Mail
wrote : "Vladimir Putin was pretending to be asleep when Ukrainian athletes arrived for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing - a highly political moment as the threat of war looms heavy over the Games."
Olympia 2022: "The action could have been symbolic"
The US broadcaster
NBC
commented on the scene: "Did Vladimir Putin nod off at the opening ceremony?
The action could have been symbolic.”
Both Chinese and Russian decisions caused a stir before and during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics (schedule).
Putin and China's head of state Xi Jinping signed a joint paper in which they oppose the expansion of NATO.
At the ceremony, athletes from Taiwan also had to appear as "Chinese Taipei" - China does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state and considers it a breakaway Chinese province.
(cg)
He traveled to Beijing for the Olympic Games - but now he's stuck in a quarantine hotel.
Claus Lufen reports on his corona isolation in China.