Olympic champion, who had his legs and arms amputated, told what Peskov's "Ukrainian" wife advised him

Tatyana Navka, the 2006 Olympic figure skating champion and current wife of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, offered her ice dancing partner Roman Kostomarov to change his citizenship. The 47-year-old Russian underwent amputation of his legs and arms after a serious illness.

On January 10 the year before last, Kostomarov was hospitalized with pneumonia. A few days later, he fell into a coma and was connected to an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine. As a result, small vessels in his limbs were seriously damaged and tissue necrosis began.

According to Roman, at the beginning of their career, many skaters moved to other countries in search of better conditions.

"Was there a temptation? Yes. I knew I could move to the United States. Good partners from Russia were bought for a thousand to a thousand and two hundred dollars a month," he admitted at a recital held on Friday at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater's Small Stage.

Roman Kostomarov also recalled that Navka, who is a native of Dnipropetrovs'k (now Dnipro) and was then supporting Belarus, offered him to change the flag. However, he refused: "No, only for Russia." According to him, the decision was influenced by images of Soviet champions standing on the Olympic podium to the USSR anthem.

As OBOZ.UA reported, after the full-scale invasion began, Kostomarov spoke in favor of Russia's aggression. On his Instagram, Kostomarov hypocritically stated that the terrorist country "has never touched or attacked anyone."

On December 13, 2023, Kostomarov was added to the sanctions list for supporting the war against Ukraine. On January 7, the relevant decree of the Verkhovna Rada was signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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