Plushenko and Mother Clash Over Young Skater Lena Kostyleva

Lena Kostyleva is a fragile 14-year-old girl, one of the most promising figure skaters in Russia right now. A winner of junior competitions at the all-Russian level, this year she found herself at the center of a very adult scandal. And it erupted between two people who seemed closest to her: her mother Irina Kostyleva and coach Evgeni Plushenko.

We explain how it happened that instead of the young skater«s successes, everyone is discussing the raging adult passions around her.

Elena Kostyleva was born on 11 October 2011 in Voronezh. She lived with her parents in Rossosh for some time, where she first put on skates at age three. Then she skated in Voronezh for several years, and in 2018 moved to Moscow. Initially, she trained at the Army Olympic Reserve School named after Stanislav Zhuk, and from 2019 — with Eteri Tutberidze. Over the next five years, she changed several coaches until she came under the guidance of Evgeni Plushenko in 2024. She is a winner of the Russian Junior Championships and the Russian Junior Grand Prix.

Yogurt and Physical Abuse

Problems with coaches for Lena and her mother did not start with Evgeni Plushenko — the young skater has already had to leave academies amidst scandals.

One of the first high-profile cases was Kostyleva«s departure from Eteri Tutberidze»s group back in 2021. The conflict erupted during summer training camps — over yogurt. Lena«s mother said that a teammate, Margarita Bazylyuk, allegedly asked to get yogurt from the cafeteria for her. When Kostyleva was returning to her room with the food, she was met by Tutberidze. The coach scolded the girl for not following the regimen and expelled her from the group. And Bazylyuk later denied that she asked for yogurt to be brought to her.

After the scandal with Tutberidze, Lena moved under the guidance of Igor Lyutikov at the «Moskvich» school. But there too, the situation quickly heated up. Kostyleva senior first claimed that her daughter was being kicked out of training sessions, and then even stated that on the ice, it came to physical abuse by the coaches.

«On 28 July 2023, Lena returned from vacation from Voronezh to Moscow. She went out on the ice of »Moskvich« for the new season — the first day. After three minutes, she was already in the locker room. I asked, what happened? She told me that Lyutikov told her that she no longer trains at »Moskvich«, and kicked her off the ice! <…> I took and turned on my phone»s camera. With it, I went on the ice and put Lena on the ice. Saying, this is your ice, Lena, you are the Russian champion, a member of the Russian junior team, and who if not you deserves to skate on it. And from that moment, Mitrofanova (another coach at «Moskvich». — Ed.) began to simply mock Lena. Once it came to physical abuse. There is no video. I didn«t have time to film it. But many saw it,» wrote the mother of the young skater on her page on VKontakte.

Lyutikov himself responded restrainedly. He noted that his coaching staff handled the work worthily, despite all the negativity from Kostyleva.

«Enlightenments were rare — in the season when Lena performed splendidly, everything improved a bit. We even took photos. But then two days pass — and the mother returns to her original state,» the coach said.

As a result, in March 2024, Lena Kostyleva moved to the «Angels of Plushenko» academy.

Injuries and «Abduction»

The first year of Lena«s work with Evgeni Plushenko passed quietly. Lena took several first places at championships and the Russian Grand Prix, Plushenko kept telling how she complicates and improves her programs. But by mid-2025, Irina Kostyleva began to express complaints to the coach. One of the first concerned the skater»s injuries, in the worsening of which her mother accused Plushenko.

Further — more. A real scandal erupted at the end of June, when videos appeared on social networks with a woman resembling Irina Kostyleva. In one video, she stated that her daughter is being forcibly held at the «Angels of Plushenko». In the second video, allegedly Kostyleva senior first says that she is being taken to the police, after which she jumps out of the car and tries to run away from law enforcement officers with cries of «Help, they»re killing me!«.

Then an audio recording appeared (available to the editorial staff), in which a woman with a voice similar to the skater«s mother claimed that »the child is being squeezed out by pushing her into a crazy, extremely harsh free contract until age 18«.

»I do not allow my child to sign any contracts. I do not allow my child to be taken away and to be brainwashed. They manipulate the fact that I hit her once. I didn«t even hit her, but responded to the kick she gave me. But I have to raise her. <…> She has such bad genes that I»m fighting against… They should have supported me, said: «Lena, what are you doing, how can you offend your mother, how can you send your mother to *****.» Can one say such things to a mother?« — it says in the recording.

This episode ended suddenly: soon Irina recorded a video address saying that »everything is fine«.

Evgeni Plushenko, after what happened, also stated that everything is in order.

«Don»t pay attention, it«s all a fake story. Everything is fine. The girl is working, all is well, no problems. We ride motorcycles, she walks, runs, jumps. Everything is fine,» — said the skater.

«I»m curious why Plushenko only tells my Lena to work less? Other athletes train from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. right here with Plushenko. No one believes me that Lena since September this season hasn«t trained more than two hours a day. And even then, training like for »amateurs«. Jumped. Stood near the coach. Jumped. Stood again… Although I saw at »Locomotive«, amateurs training three — four hours a day. So everything we saw with Lena is the coaching work of Olympic champion Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko,» — wrote Kostyleva.

After such statements, Plushenko himself for the first time in the entire conflict responded to the mother of his pupil not dryly through the media, but in detail in his Telegram channel. Everything that Lena«s mother writes, and Lena herself, he called »tales from the Vienna Woods«. The skater also explained that the girl is recovering from injuries and that she is »not 8 years old to run around on the ice and do 30 ultra-c jumps per training session«. It didn»t go without criticism of Kostyleva senior.

«Lena is not a robot, she is a human! You can ruin the girl, because in pursuit of medals and prizes you»re no longer interested in anything! Then everything can be blamed on the staff, on her coach. <…> A child athlete needs to be praised at least sometimes! And not say that she is «crap» and «fat-assed» and nothing will work out for her. I repeatedly forbade «Tales from the Vienna Woods» from doing this, but to no avail, and also forbade teaching coaches how to train, inserting their amateur «two cents» everywhere and always! Therefore, «Tales from the Vienna Woods» is blocked by me,« — wrote Plushenko.

Two days later, he published a video in which he gifts the young skater a new phone that »no one can take away from her«.

Commission for Minors« Affairs

Another day later, Evgeni Plushenko published several posts with new accusations against the mother of his pupil. Among the main complaints were: swearing and insults towards coaches, athletes and their parents, use of physical force against her daughter, filming and discussing other athletes of the Academy on social networks, systematic lies about the staff and Plushenko himself. The skater also published a video in which allegedly Kostyleva is very emotionally talking on the phone with someone, abundantly using profanity.

«All evidence [of child abuse] has been collected by us and submitted to all relevant authorities, including the Commissioner for Children»s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation — Maria Lvova-Belova, as well as to the Figure Skating Federation. I«m afraid to even imagine what shock the public will experience upon seeing these materials. Yana Alexandrovna [Rudkovskaya] personally repeatedly gave guarantees and pulled the mother-blogger out of the police, time and again giving the mother-blogger chances to come to her senses. She gave guarantees for her to the guardianship! There were probably too many chances. And they were not appreciated either,» — wrote Plushenko.

Soon, the coach«s appeal to the authorities was confirmed: the evidence was published by Irina Kostyleva herself. In her channel, a resolution from the commission for minors» affairs appeared. According to the document, the skater«s mother was found guilty of improper performance of duties in raising the child.

The document was accompanied by new accusations from Kostyleva senior against Plushenko. Allegedly, he is «destroying the athlete», and she is simply raising her daughter correctly.

«Elena does not realize the seriousness of her actions. For her, it»s like a game. To free herself from a scolding mother for «leaking» training sessions. Overeating chocolate, which is treated from all sides in the Academy <…>. And here is Plushenko, who doesn«t make her work. <…> Lena needs to rest. Fall from jumps. And grow (pardon) her butt… Attention! Place your bets, gentlemen. How much time will Plushenko need to completely destroy an athlete like Kostyleva?» — wrote the woman.

Moreover, she continued to assert that her daughter is intentionally trained weakly so that other pupils of the Academy gain an advantage in competitions.

What Next

By 27 November, the heat of the scandal subsided a bit. Evgeni Plushenko already reported that Lena«s father is present at trainings.

»Today we held two full training sessions on ice with Lena! Lena«s dad, Valery, is fully involved in the training process. <…> And let all the rest be handled by the competent authorities, who have all the information and all the materials. We maintain Olympic calm and move only forward! And, by the way, I am very glad that Lena and Valery appreciate our work and also value our relationship,» — noted the skater.

Irina Kostyleva, after dozens of angry posts with harsh criticism of Plushenko and Rudkovskaya, admitted that she does not want to leave the coach.

«I think that Plushenko with Rudkovskaya will do the right thing: start training Kostyleva as needed, for the maximum result from Lena. And then no contract will be needed. And Lena, in fact, has become attached to Evgeni Viktorovich. And does not want to leave him. But he does everything to make us leave. <…> Despite the huge hatred towards me from Plushenko, I love to speak the truth. He is a very good coach.

But he shouldn»t pull the blanket over himself. He needs a good choreographer,« — wrote Lena»s mother.

Meanwhile, the conflict has attracted attention even in the State Duma. Chairman of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports Dmitry Svishchev made a statement.

«Evgeni Plushenko himself is a dad and understands everything well. He knows perfectly well what sport is, and that the main thing in sport is discipline. And this imposes responsibility not only on the child but also on the parents. But this does not give grounds to treat children cruelly. And if there are facts of violence from one of the parents, especially one registered with the guardianship authorities, then urgent measures must be taken,» — the deputy told the RIA «Novosti Sport» publication.

Maria Lvova-Belova also commented on the events. She informed TASS that work on the appeal from Plushenko is underway.

«Lawyers have gone out to thoroughly understand the situation together with the relevant departments. A mediator who works in our apparatus has been involved. Of course, we will keep the story under control,» — said the children«s ombudsman.