{
  "id": 7570000,
  "title": "NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin appears in campaign ad for Putin’s United Russia party",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/nhl-superstar-alexander-ovechkin-appears-in-campaign-ad-for-putins",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-15T14:32:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/09/15/nhl-superstar-alexander-ovechkin-appears-in-campaign-ad-for-putin-s-united-russia-party"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "NHL star Alexander Ovechkin made an appearance in a campaign video for Russia's United Russia party, backing one of the five candidates on its federal list ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections on September 18-20. The video featured Ovechkin alongside Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, alongside other supporters such as propagandist Margarita Simonyan and actor Vladimir Mashkov. Ovechkin, who holds the NHL's all-time scoring record, is known for his long-standing support for President Vladimir Putin. He founded a public movement called Putin's Team in 2018, though the concept originated from IMA-Consulting, a company closely associated with the Presidential Administration. Ovechkin had previously served as a representative for Putin during his 2018 presidential campaign and later participated in the \"Territory of Meanings\" forum. Despite his support for Putin, Ovechkin called for peace after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating that \"He's my president, but I'm not a politician.\" The Presidential Administration's political bloc considered Ovechkin for the top spot on United Russia's list in 2026, but he ultimately did not meet the criteria and did not participate in the campaign.",
  "summary": "Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin appeared in a campaign video for United Russia ahead of elections to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, set for September 18–20. The party released a series of television videos featuring the top five candidates on its federal list: each of them stands surrounded by like-minded supporters and, as the Russian business daily…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Euromaidan Press",
        "title": "Ukraine’s drone campaign is changing where Putin goes – now his flagship forum is being moved out of Sochi",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/ukraines-drone-campaign-is-changing-where-putin-goes-now-his-flagship",
        "published": "2026-09-15T15:11:58.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}