The wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov has sparked anger after she performed a Holocaust-themed ice skating routine on a reality television show Saturday night.
Former Olympic figure skating champion Tatiana Navka and actor Andrey Burkovsky wore striped concentration camp uniforms and yellow Stars of David for their performance on state-owned Channel 1’s “Ice Age” show, in which professional skaters are paired with celebrities, The Times of Israel reported.
The pair skated to Israeli singer Achinoam “Noa” Nini’s song “Beautiful That Way,” which was featured in the 1997 Italian-language Oscar-winning Holocaust film “Life is Beautiful.”
Navka posted photographs of their performance to Instagram after the show. She explained the routine was “based on one of my favorite movies” and that it was important for children to know about the Holocaust.
As the show’s official YouTube clip above appears to show, the routine was well-received by audience members.
But it drew considerable ire from social media users after New York Magazine and Daily Beast contributing writer Yashar Ali tweeted the clip to his 11,000-plus followers. Many dubbed the performance “offensive” and “tactless.”
The Jerusalem Post described the performance as “chilling,” while noting that Russia’s version of “Dancing with the Stars” also featured a similar Holocaust-themed segment in April.
