A Russian go-karting driver was under hot water for allegedly celebrating his victory at the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Karting European Championship with what appeared to be a Nazi salute.
After winning the first round of the kart racing competition held at Portimao, Portugal on Sunday, 15-year-old Artem Severiukhin stepped onto the podium, pounded his chest twice, extended his right arm and laughed.
#Russian driver Artyom Severyukhin, competing under the Italian flag at the #European Junior Karting Championship, showed a #Nazi salute at the awards ceremony.\n\nHe competing under the #Italian flag because of the sanctions imposed on #Russia.pic.twitter.com/q4wOGHPsvR— NEXTA (@NEXTA) 1649668487
Even though many believed his gesture to be the Nazi salute, his supporters claimed Severiukhin did a Roman salute.
FYI, IT'S NOT a Nazi salute BUT it's the ancient Roman salute.— Freestyler (@Freestyler) 1649670025
However, people pointed out the mythical Roman salute was a relatively modern invention and still considered a symbol of Italian fascism.
That is actually a myth. There is no record of this salute being used in Ancient Rome. It was made up by neoclassical painters. It was popularised by Italian fascists as an ahistorical tribute to the Roman Empire. So it can\u2019t really be separated from its fascist meaning.— MartinDirlinger (@MartinDirlinger) 1649671567
The Roman empire itself was a fascist state. And one of it's symbols of power is literally where the term fascist comes from.— Ivo Vandeberg (@Ivo Vandeberg) 1649710711
According to The Washington Post, Severiukhin was competing under the Italian banner because the governing body of FIA placed sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his decision to invade Ukraine as one meant to "denazify" the country–even though Ukraine's democratically-elected President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish and had relatives who died in the Holocaust.
"The purpose of this operation is to protect people who for eight years now have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime," said Putin, according to an English translation from the Russian Mission in Geneva.
"To this end, we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation."
Thought Russia was denazifying Ukraine, I think they need to look closer to home.— Lewis | #BigPowerOff (@Lewis | #BigPowerOff) 1649700456
The FIA issued a statement indicating they have launched an investigation into the "unacceptable conduct" of Severiukhin and promised “further steps will be taken in this case.”
FIA reported that they launched an immediate investigation into the incident with Artem Severiukhin.https://twitter.com/fia/status/1513505605750857730\u00a0\u2026— NEXTA (@NEXTA) 1649683624
Severiukhin's team, Ward Racing, also issued a statement on Monday saying they are "deeply in shame of the pilot's behavior which it condemns in the strongest possible terms."
The privately-owned Swedish team that "unites pilots from different countries, acting under licenses of various countries," stated "action will promptly be taken accordingly."
Idiot Russian kart pilot Anton Severiukhin, performing the Nazi salute while celebrating a victory, has been rightfully cancelled.\n\nPlay stupid games, win stupid prizes, I guess.https://twitter.com/_Sazed/status/1513515792373063680\u00a0\u2026— Stefano Bellelli \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@Stefano Bellelli \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1649704132
The statement said the Russian teen's actions at Sunday's award ceremony "were exclusively individual and do not represent the views and values of Ward Racing in any manner."
"On the contrary, Ward Racing stands with the international community condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expresses its solidarity with the people suffering because of this unprovoked and horrific attack."
The team also said they considered Severiukhin's actions a "manifestation of unsportsmanlike behavior," and "an unacceptable violation of the ethical and moral sports codex."
Ward Racing ended its statement by declaring they will proceed with terminating the teen's racing contract.
People called for Severiukhin to be banned from the sport.
What is wrong with people??pic.twitter.com/5p2P6mp2NT— ArnoudvanHouwelingen \ud83d\udd0b\u26a1\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f \ud83d\ude80 (@ArnoudvanHouwelingen \ud83d\udd0b\u26a1\ufe0f\u2600\ufe0f \ud83d\ude80) 1649668972
Disgusting— Sean Flynn (@Sean Flynn) 1649668528
Must be BANNED immediately.— efge (@efge) 1649668550
Maybe a life ban from karting will help this little sunshine understand what he just did.pic.twitter.com/yoKpq4GW8o— Saidy (@Saidy) 1649671433
Bye bye artem, your career is over— Smc (@Smc) 1649701028
.@dis @fiakarting @SportGoverno \nArtem Severiukhin should be stripped of his title/prizes & banned for 5 yrs for his Nazi salute on the podium during Italian national anthem after winning European Karting Championship in Portugal. \n\nHe\u2019s 15yo - his parents must be investigated!https://twitter.com/iaponomarenko/status/1513487580171575297\u00a0\u2026— fan of democracy \ud83c\udf3b (@fan of democracy \ud83c\udf3b) 1649680409
Others thought the teen should be given some slack due to his age.
Don't judge him so hard. He is only young boy, russian, with low level of intelligence.— Vil\u00e9m Novotn\u00fd (@Vil\u00e9m Novotn\u00fd) 1649668776
We all do stupid things at that age.\n\nI remember england playing turkey in the early 2000\u2019s. I was in a pub in london. Hundreds and hundreds of people singing \u2018i\u2019d rather be a pakki than a turk\u2019 - people from all walks of life singing. Stupid things happen - get over it.— commonscents (@commonscents) 1649742420
Just an immature young lad. It was probably a dare by one of his pals going by the laughter afterwards. Deserves to be punished but rein your necks in folks.— Hainey (@Hainey) 1649712270
Severiukhin responded to the backlash by posting a video on the Russian Automobile Federation’s Telegram page, apologizing for "what happened yesterday at the European Karting Championship."
He added the gesture that “many perceived as a Nazi salute" was misunderstood.
NEWS | Russian karting driver Artem Severiukhin has reacted on Telegram to the incident where he allegedly did a Nazi salute on the podium after a karting race.pic.twitter.com/lmY8aMgLQQ— F1 Feeder Series (@F1 Feeder Series) 1649687261
“I have never supported Nazism,” he said.
He also considered the actions of Nazis to be among “the worst crimes against humanity.”
While maintaining that his gesture was misunderstood, Severiukhin called himself a "fool" and said he was “ready to be punished” for his actions.
He insisted:
“Please believe that there was no intention in my actions. There was no support for Nazis.”
