Vladimir Putin pretends to be asleep during Ukraine’s opening ceremony welcome

Daniel Brown

Putin closed his eyes and sat back in his chair

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to pretend to be asleep as the Ukrainian Winter Olympic team were welcomed to the opening ceremony of the games in Beijing.

Putin closed his eyes and sat back in his chair with his arms folded as Ukraine’s athletes entered the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The 69-year-old – who currently possess a large military force gathered on the border with Ukraine – was seen not wearing a face covering, despite everyone else in the VIP area covering their face with a mask.

Despite the decision to host the games in China being heavily scrutinised, considering the criticism faced from human rights group and from countries competing in the games, Chinese President Xi Jinping received a standing ovation as he entered the stadium prior to the start of the ceremony.

Xi previously signed a document that condemned America for its perceived influence in Europe, the expansion of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and the US government’s ‘negative impact on peace and stability’ in the Asia-Pacific region.

🚨 #BREAKING 🇷🇺🇺🇦 | Putin disrespects #Ukraine at the #Olympics by doing a 'Sleepy Biden' on camera and pretending to be falling asleep during the passage of Ukrainian athletes. pic.twitter.com/1z4kyG6ORe

— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) February 4, 2022

Putin was amongst a small group of foreign dignitaries and world leaders that attended the opening ceremony, with most – including those from Great Britain – not present due to concerns over China’s record on human rights and the country’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the eastern province of Xinjiang.

China has been accused of committing genocide against its Muslim Uyghur population in the province of Xinjiang.

This, and many more of Beijing's human rights abuses are the reasons behind a large-scale boycott of the 2022 #WinterOlympics https://t.co/25Wn5zCDrA

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOE_UK) February 4, 2022

Putting pretending to fall asleep was not the only controversial moment of the visually-appealing opening ceremony, with athletes competing from Taiwan being announced in the stadium as competitors from ‘Chinese Taipei’.

While Taiwan has long held itself to be a self-governing and sovereign nation, China considers the small Asian country as a breakaway state and has previously threatened to ‘unify’ Taiwan with China by using military force.

Only a ‘select’ group of fans and guests were permitted to attend the ceremony at the Bird’s Nest Stadium. China has implemented strict covid restrictions and are pursuing a ‘zero covid’ strategy.

The games officially opened on 4 February – with preliminary events beginning on 2 February – and will run from February 4 until February 20.

"It's a genocide games."

Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Tigrayans all told us why they need you to boycott the #winterolympics pic.twitter.com/BwVNcySmnh

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) February 3, 2022

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