On January 31, he had surgery in Tel Aviv to replace an injured disc in his back. He has gone through rehabilitation and experimented with new opportunities including taking part in a top Fashion Show, Odri, on March 31, organized by his (second) wife, Yana Rudkovskaya, who is the mother of his second son, Alexander, born this year on January 6.

The 30-year-old is scheduled to appear in a new ice rink in the far-east Russian city of Yuzhny-Sakhalinsk, which is on an island just north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, where the Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics took place in 1972.

He said he was delighted at the opportunity to skate in the new facility. “Thanks for inviting me. This is the first time we’ve (the group of skaters he was appearing with) have been this far away (from his Moscow & St. Petersburg bases). We must develop our cause, figure skating, and support for young people.”