‘It distracts people from what they’re really fighting for’: Hockey star Artemi Panarin’s girlfriend on civil unrest in US

Alisa Znarok, the girlfriend of New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, has expressed her fear and alarm over the ongoing riots in the US, saying the looting and chaos is undermining the fight against injustice.

Street unrest has been raging across the US for the past 10 days, over the police killing of unarmed black civilian George Floyd in Minneapolis.

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Znarok, who is the daughter of former Russian ice hockey team coach Oleg Znarok, described situation in New York as “terrifying,” and said trouble-makers are using the protests as a pretext to commit crimes.

“Riots and civil disorder are taking place along with the peaceful demonstrations,” she said.

“Some people are using the unstable situation to start looting shops and restaurants, smashing everything on their way. Many people come to New York from other states and ruin whatever they can. This is very dangerous and frightening. Unfortunately, this situation distracts people from what they are really fighting for.

“We live in Connecticut and there were just peaceful demonstrations here without violence. But in New York the situation is really terrifying,” she added.

In May, Panarin and Znarok announced their engagement, sharing a picture of a diamond ring on their social media pages.