Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, didn’t hold back as she listed the ceremony’s shortcomings pointing out its faults at will. 

The first-ever Opening Ceremony to take place outside of a controlled stadium was not broadcast live on Russia's state TV channels despite Russians being huge fans of the games since the days the USSR earned the nickname “The Big Red Machine” for its sporting prowess.

Initially, Zakharova didn’t intend to catch the spectacle, embracing the Kremlin’s decision to turn its noses up at the occasion due to the lack of Russian athletes involved. "I wasn't planning to watch the opening,” she wrote on Telegram. “But after seeing the photos, I couldn't believe it wasn't a deep fake or photoshop.”

"The ridiculous open-air opening ceremony forced guests to sit for hours under pouring rain" she said, while also mocking the “transport collapse” on the day due to reported sabotage of some French rail lines.

The 48-year-old Russian politician found little to favour and much to fault as she described the capital of France as being “a ghetto for homeless people” with “rats that flooded the city streets” before finding a particular issue with the involvement of drag queens.

This controversial moment saw 18 performers, including three famed drag queens, pose behind a long table with the Eiffel Tower visible in the backdrop. One of the performers donned a large silver headdress that resembled the halo depicted in paintings of Jesus causing intense scrutiny across social media with many seeing it as a drag queen-themed ‘woke’ parody of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper".

"The Apostles were shown as transvestites" said Zakharova calling it "a mockery of a sacred story for Christians" while a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Vakhtang Kipshidze, took to Telegram to call it "cultural and historical suicide".

"Evidently in Paris, they decided that if the Olympic rings are multi-coloured, you can turn it all into one giant gay parade," finished Zakharova. Both Russia and Belarus were banned from fielding national teams of Athletes due to the Kremlin's ongoing attempt to annex Ukraine which is a violation of the Olympic Charter.

Just 15 Russian citizens will be participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games but will be doing so as neutrals and will not represent the Russian flag which has inevitably caused friction with the Russian Federation.

On Wednesday, French police then arrested a Russian national on “destabilisation” charges. A move Zakharova also alluded to saying "I wonder how many more 'spies' had to be embedded for the opening of the Olympics in Paris to end up such a massive failure?".