Yelena Isinbayeva.
Credit: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
A Russian athlete, widely considered to be the greatest female pole vaulter of all time, and a commander in the Russian army has settled on the island of Tenerife.
Forty-one-year-old Olympian, Yelena Isinbayeva, a pro-Putin Russian army commander, arrived in Tenerife on May 30, by chartered cargo plane from Turkey, according to La Provincia, today, July 12.
Reportedly she lives with her husband, Nikita Petinov, and her two children, Eva and Dobrynya, in a luxury residential area in Arona.
It was revealed yesterday that the two-time Olympic gold medallist was seen walking through the streets of southern Tenerife. The National Police has reported her whereabouts to its central headquarters in Madrid, which until recently was unknown.
As well as a successful Olympian, Isinbayeva, also played an important participation in Russia’s military policy. In 2015 she was promoted and decorated as a major in the Russian Army after the Ministry of Defence decided to honour her for the sporting successes she had achieved throughout her career.
There is some controversy over whether Isinbayeva is currently active as an officer in the Russian Defense Ministry. In the latest statements by International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman, Mark Adams, she neither affirms nor denies it.
In February of this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky, imposed sanctions against 164 natural persons and 85 legal persons of the Russian Federation for ‘supporting a large-scale Russian invasion of the country.’
On the list were several Russian athletes belonging to the IOC, including Isinbayeva. Zelensky claimed the athlete was part of the ‘representatives of the Russian sports sector who try to put sport at the service of aggression.’
She faced a verification process by Ethics, but on June 23, 2023, the process voted in her favour, allowing her to continue on the Olympic committee.
In 2012, she became Vladimir Putin’s confidant in the presidential election and in November 2017, she joined the Putin Team movement.
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