Fitness videos, makeup tutorials — and now a viral manifesto on the growing problems plaguing Russia.
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A celebrity influencer’s direct warning toVladimir Putinthat his people might “snap” has prompted a rare acknowledgment of public criticism from the Kremlin.
The 18-minute Instagram critique was a surprise pivot for Victoria Bonya, a Monaco-based Russian influencer whose videos are better known for their lifestyle tips. But the former reality television star struck a chord in Russia, where disquiet has been bubbling for months over issues including asweeping crackdown on the internet.
An increasingly sluggish economy and alack of battlefield progress in Ukraineare also adding to the Kremlin’s woes.
“There is a big, fat wall between you and us, the ordinary people,” Bonya, 46, said in a direct address to Putin earlier this week as she accused top officials of being too afraid to tell him the truth.
She rattled off to her 13 million followers a number of problems that she said were facing Russia — themajor curtailing of digital freedoms, mass extermination of livestock in Siberia, deadly flooding in the southern Dagestan region and the oil slick drifting off Russia’s Black Sea coast.
People are hurting, she said, blaming officials she said were withholding the real state of affairs from Putin.
“People will get tired of being afraid,” she said in the video, which has now been viewed more than 26 million times and liked by 1.4 million. “They’re being compressed like a spring, and one day, that spring will just snap.”
Bonya stressed that she still supports Putin, calling him a “very strong” politician. “But you don’t know about many things,” she said.
Source: Drudge Report
