Nazi salute from a Russian kart driver

Fifteen-year-old Russian racing driver Artem Severyukhin, who competes under the Italian flag, raised his right hand in a fascist salute during the awards ceremony.

The act caused mass indignation and provoked a scandal. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Nazi salute took place to the sounds of the Italian national anthem. The incident occurred when the driver was on the podium after the 1st round of the European Karting Championship, held in Portimão, Portugal.

Artem Severyukhin is from the Russian city of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, north of Yekaterinburg. The Russian racer competes under the Italian flag due to the sanctions that have been imposed on his country due to the invasion of Ukraine. By decision of the International Motorsport Federation (FIA), Russian and Belarusian racers cannot compete in official competitions with their national symbols, recalls sportmk.ru.

After winning the race, Artyom punched himself twice in the chest and extended his arm forward, saluting the Nazis during the medal ceremony. A video of a young Russian rider zigzagging has gone viral on social media amid a special operation in Ukraine aimed at “denazification” of Ukraine, writes Italian Gazetta dello Sport and other world media, including the Greek edition ethnos.gr. It was this gesture that members of Mussolini’s fascist party used. Later, a similar greeting was adopted by the Nazis in Germany, and after the Second World War it was banned in many countries.

The International Automobile Federation FIA called his behavior “unacceptable” and announced the launch of an investigation into the Nazi salute of the young racer. The team said in a statement that there will be a message shortly on further steps to be taken in this case.

Some time ago, a video appeared where Artem Severyukhin apologizes.

https://t.me/official_raf/60

The mother also tried to stand up for the young racer, who wrote on social networks that her son did not make any fascist greetings, but “sent hearts to me and the team,” but no one believed it. However, in any case, writes sportmk.ru., his career, most likely, will be put an end to. The Russian Automobile Federation released an official statement:

The Russian Automobile Federation reports that it is aware of what happened on Sunday, April 10 at the awards ceremony of the European Karting Championship, when Russian athlete Artem Severyukhin, who competed under an Italian license and for the Swedish team, made a gesture that some perceived as a “Roman salute”. At the moment, the RAF is investigating the circumstances of the incident and the athlete’s act, and is also analyzing the comments of the parties in connection with this.RAF reports that Artem Severyukhin received a detachment from the RAF and competed in the championship under an Italian license, which is why Artem has an Italian flag in the protocol, and the Italian anthem was played on the podium.We also inform you that we consider unacceptable any, even an accidental manifestation of fascism and Nazism in Russian motorsport and among Russian athletes.Our further comments on how the incident will be regarded and what measures will be applied to the athlete will follow later, after the meeting of the Sports Council.

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