This is the moment Russian hockey star Denis Zernov makes a traditional soup in the country’s treasured Gagarin Cup, causing outrage among fans.
Albina Koroleva, the partner of Zernov, 25, a striker for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) team Avangard Omsk based in the Russian city of Omsk, shared the clip on her Instagram Stories page.
According to the news site Life, Zernov brought the Gagarin Cup back to his home city of Chelyabinsk where he then decided to fill it with ‘okroshka’,
Okroshka is a cold soup that probably originated in the Volga region that is mostly raw vegetables, boiled potatoes, eggs, and a cooked meat such as beef, veal or sausages with kvass, a non-alcoholic beverage made from fermented black or rye bread.
In the footage, Zernov is seen pouring kvass into the huge trophy that is filled to the brim with vegetables and meat.
The hockey player’s gesture was criticized by many fans who commented under the post.
Instagram user ‘alina_sergeevna1902 ‘ noted sarcastically: ”They open beer bottles with medals, so why not drink from a trophy? It is extremely unpleasant to see such a video.”
Another netizen named ‘nikola_nikishin’ wrote:” I’m just in shock! You fight all season and then pour okroshka into your winning trophy. Zernov, are you sane?”
And the user ‘s.artem27’ added: “The complete disrespect shown for Gagarin in eating from the trophy is just shocking.”
Avangard Omsk won the Gagarin Cup for the first time ever by beating HC CSKA Moscow in the final 4-2.
They had previously eliminated Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and Ak Bars Kazan
Zernov played in 84 games in the regular season and playoff ties, scoring 14 goals and making 32 assists.
