AbroadYesterday, 17:02 Lithuania revokes citizenship of figure skater Drobjazko

“The president has signed the decree,” Rids Jasjulionis, press representative of the Lithuanian president, assured the BNS news agency.

The Lithuanian Citizenship Commission decided on Thursday to recommend to the president to revoke the citizenship granted to Drobjazko 30 years ago for special merits. In the commission’s assessment, the figure skater has expressed support for the Russian regime, which continues the war in Ukraine, with her actions.

The president of the Lithuanian Skating Federation Vītauts Jasutis confirmed in the Seimas on Friday that Drobjazko and her husband and figure skating partner Povils Vanags will not attend the International Skating Union (ISU) European Figure Skating Championships, which will be held in Kaunas in January.

Informing the deputies about the preparations for the championship, Jasutis admitted that Drobjazko and Vanags are the best pair of Lithuanian figure skaters of all time, so it is a pity that they will not attend the championship.

At the same time, he emphasized that the position of the Federation regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been clear and that Drobyazko and Vanag’s “action is unambiguous”.

Drobjazko, who was born in Russia, was exceptionally granted Lithuanian citizenship in 1993 for her merits in sports. Together with Vanagas, Drobjazko has represented Lithuania in various competitions.

In June, a group of Seimas deputies appealed to the Ministry of the Interior, suggesting that Drobjazko be stripped of his Lithuanian citizenship. They asked for an evaluation of the grounds for depriving the figure skater of her Lithuanian citizenship in accordance with the amendments to the law, which allows for depriving the exceptionally granted citizenship of a person whose actions threaten the security interests of Lithuania or its allies and thus undermine the country’s reputation. These amendments to the law entered into force in March.

In July, the State Security Department of Lithuania concluded that Drobjazko does not pose a threat to national security.

In an open letter published this week, Drobyazko stressed that he is not connected to Russian propaganda and brings “the light of culture and kindness.”

The amendments to the citizenship law were drafted in response to outrage last summer over the actions of Drobyazko and her husband and figure skating partner, Hawk, when they participated in a show program in the Russian city of Sochi in August. The show was organized by former figure skater Tatiana Navka, the wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

After Drobjazko and Vanag’s performance in Sochi, Nausėda took away the Lithuanian state award awarded to them in 2000 – the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Gediminas.