Russian influencer goes viral for calling out Putin, posts video saying ‘people are afraid of you’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Russian influencer goes viral for calling out Putin, posts video saying ‘people are afraid of you’")
Russian TV presenter and model Victoria Bonya arrives for the screening of the film "Les Filles D’Olfa" (Four Daughters) during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 19, 2023. Photograph: (AFP)
Russian influencer Victoria Bonya’s viral video criticising domestic failures has pressured the Kremlin amid President Putin's falling approval ratings. Officials acknowledged her concerns, which range from environmental issues to economic strain.
A video by Russian influencer Victoria Bonya has gone viral, putting the Kremlin under pressure as public criticism of the authorities gains traction amid falling approval ratings for President Vladimir Putin. Bonya, who rose to fame on the reality television show Dom-2, posted an 18-minute video on Instagram in which she warned that mounting domestic issues risk spiralling out of control. The video has amassed 26 million views and more than 1.3 million likes within four days.
“The people are afraid of you, artists are afraid, governors are afraid,” she said, addressing Putin, while highlighting concerns that she claimed regional officials were unwilling to raise directly with the Kremlin. Among the issues cited were flooding in Dagestan, oil pollution along the Black Sea coast, livestock culls in Siberia, internet blackouts and increasing pressure on small businesses from rising taxes and prices.
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“You know what the risk is?” Bonya said. “That people will stop being afraid, and they’re being squeezed into a coiled spring, and that one day that coiled spring will shoot out.”
Kremlins responds
In a rare move, the Kremlin publicly acknowledged the criticism, stating that efforts were underway to address the problems raised. The response has fuelled speculation that the intervention may have been tacitly encouraged by authorities ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
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However, analysts have cast doubt on that theory. Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political scientist, said the remarks were more likely a spontaneous reflection of growing unease. “War fatigue is really starting to set in,” he said, adding that people are increasingly linking everyday hardships to the conflict in Ukraine.
Exiled former Kremlin adviser Abbas Galyamov said Bonya’s comments could broaden dissent. “Bonya is bringing a fundamentally new audience into the opposition camp that wasn’t there before,” he said, pointing to rising prices, internet restrictions and frustration over the war.
