Nadezhda Karpova

Karpova has regularly spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling Putin and Lukashenko "human scum" and war criminals. She is openly lesbian, having come out in 2022. She is the first openly gay Russian national team athlete, although her status in the team following the revelation is uncertain.

Stance on Russian athletes competing at the Olympics

She opposed Russia's participation at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, stating:

I agree that now is probably not the moment when everyone should organize a sports festival and go to competitions, because these victories will be misinterpreted in Russia itself. Everything will work to strengthen the regime, and the people who make these decisions should understand this. It's no secret that, like for any dictator, sports for Putin is a powerful tool for fooling people. Therefore, I rather agree with Ukrainian politicians: none [of Russian athletes] should go to the Olympics. Let's say athletes from Russia or Belarus, which is also involved in this conflict, will be asked to speak about the events in Ukraine. I recently came across such an interview: the Belarusian tennis player Azarenka was asked at the Australian Open what she thinks about what is happening (Victoria Azarenka was asked how she feels about the fact that fans carried the Russian flag and Z-symbols to the stands of the Australian Open), began to answer something like this: "Are you a politician? So I'm not a politician!" — in absolutely…