"We have to escape from the Titanic." European champion refuses to play for Russia and changes citizenship

The famous Russian grandmaster Anton Demchenko has decided to play for the Slovenian national team, according to the website of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The 35-year-old native of Novorossiysk is the 2021 European champion.

In 2017 and 2019, Anton participated in the World Cup. At the time of publication of the news, he is ranked 137th in the FIDE rating.

In the comments, Russian fans supported their former compatriot's move.

"Everyone understands that this is going on forever. And if not at the feeding trough, then you have to escape from the Titanic..." - users write.

On 9 July, it became known that the famous Russian grandmaster Kirill Alekseenko would play for Austria.

It is worth noting that after the events of 24 February last year, Russia experienced a massive outflow of athletes.

Kristina Silayeva, the current winner of the Russian Speed Skating Championships in the 500m, will compete under the flag of Kazakhstan. According to the 23-year-old athlete, she no longer trains in Russia and made her decision to change her citizenship in early spring.

The famous Russian swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova decided to also compete for the French national team.

Sofia Prosvirnova, a four-time world championship medallist and five-time European short track champion, also refused to play for Russia, having received a Danish passport.

Prior to that, Russian former world heavyweight champion Murat Gassiyev was granted Armenian citizenship.

Earlier it became known that Viktor Plitsev, a two-time winner of the World Biathlon Championships among boys and juniors, was granted sports citizenship of North Macedonia.

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