Two-time Olympic champion Plushenko and his wife, producer and TV personality Yana Rudkovskaya, have been prolific makers of videos with their son, Alexander, in the family’s opulent home.

While Russia has been in lockdown under health guidelines aimed at stopping the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak, the seven-year-old known as Sasha has joined his parents indoors to test gym equipment, perform costumed dance routines and recreate scenes from films including Titanic.

Arshavin described Rudkovskaya as “a good dancer” but was less convinced by Sasha’s part in the procession of social media sequences, telling former Zenit teammate Alexander Kerzhakov that the boy’s face suggested he was acting “under duress” and being “forced to do everythingю”

Rudkovskaya, who reacted furiously to remarks that she alleged had claimed her son was mentally ill last week, hit back at Arshavin by creating another video that began with a clip of the former Russian Footballer of the Year sharing his views with Kerzhakov.

She then knelt opposite the young Plushenko in front of a mirror to perform a routine that involved the pair waving toys at each other and blowing kisses to the camera while wearing matching black and white pyjamas with illustrations of cats on them.

“This video and dancing is just for you,” she told Arshavin, tagging him and Kerzhakov in the film. “I always wonder why people care more about other people’s children than their own. I completely forgot, maybe the football players always smile.”