June 16, 2022

A Soccer Star Speaks Out


A Soccer Star Speaks Out
Karpova plays for the Russian national team in 2017. Facebook, Nadya Karpova

On June 7, 2022, soccer player Nadya Karpova became the first professional Russian athlete to come out as a lesbian woman. Karpova had already made a name for herself as the only professional Russian athlete to openly and consistently condemn Putin's invasion of Ukraine

Karpova tried to conceal her sexuality as a young player. When she was readying to sign her first professional contract at 18, the owner of the WFC Rossiyanka Russian women's soccer club told Karpova's father that he would protect his "lesbian daughter." She did take the deal. In 2017, Nadya was questioned about her sexuality by Russian media, but told the interviewer that she was not a lesbian.

In 2017, after playing in 24 matches for the Russian national women's soccer team, Karpova moved to Spain to play for Valencia CF. She is currently a forward for RCD Espanyol in Barcelona.

Since moving to Spain, Karpova said she has stopped being afraid to speak openly. She told her mother last year that she was lesbian, but only recently decided to publically discuss her sexuality.

Karpova is also speaking out openly about the Ukraine War. While other Russian athletes remain silent or show support for the Kremlin, Karpova participates in opposition rallies and regularly posts anti-war messages on social media. She has been doing so since the war began.

You Might Also Like

Russia Forever?
  • May 31, 2022

Russia Forever?

A Russian rock musician was filmed helping Russian soldiers replace a Ukrainian road sign with one reading "Russia Forever."
Alphabet Bans
  • May 23, 2022

Alphabet Bans

The Ukrainian government is banning two Latin letters used by Russian invasion forces.
Detained on Victory Day
  • May 17, 2022

Detained on Victory Day

Over 125 citizens were detained during Immortal Regiment processions across Russia.
The
  • March 10, 2022

The "Z" Symbol

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak faces punishment for flaunting the new "Z" symbol in support of the Russian invasion on Ukraine. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955