On 25 July 2009, by the decree of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, Karjakin adopted Russian citizenship. Later that year he transferred chess federations from Ukraine to Russia. He has lived in Moscow since 2009. In 2013 he graduated from the Russian State Social University with a degree in social pedagogy. Controversies Political views Born in the Crimean peninsula of Soviet Ukraine, Karjakin considers himself an ethnic Russian, and supports Vladimir Putin and the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea (from Ukraine). Suspension from chess events (2022) In late February, after comments in support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine were posted online by Karjakin and fellow Russian grandmaster Sergei Shipov, FIDE referred both to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. In early March, the Grand Chess Tour banned Karjakin from its tournaments, saying: "the GCT Board has determined that Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin is banned from all upcoming and future GCT events due to his recent hostile comments on social media supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine". On 18 March, Chess.com banned him from participating in all prize tournaments on its website. On 21 March, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) banned him from playing any FIDE-rated events for six months. The Russian Chess Federation filed an appeal, which was denied. The decision meant that Karjakin was not able to participate in the Candidates Tournament 2022. In a post to his Telegram channel, Karjakin denounced FIDE for conflating sports with politics. He further declared that he considers himself a patriot first and a chess player second, and that he did not regret anything. On 2 June, Vladimir Putin awarded Karjakin a medal of the order 'For Merit to the Fatherland' after Karjakin was suspended by FIDE for publicly supporting Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Notes References External links Interview with game review 1990 births Living people Chess grandmasters Russian chess players Ukrainian chess players Ukrainian people of Russian descent World Youth Chess Champions Chess Olympiad competitors Ukrainian emigrants to Russia Naturalised citizens of Russia Sportspeople from Simferopol Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia Russian State Social University alumni