Viktoria Bonya: Russia acknowledges criticism from celebrity blogger

InternationalLifestyleViktoria Bonya: Russia acknowledges criticism from celebrity bloggerBy Reuters -Apr 18, 2026MOSCOW: Russia has taken the unusual step of ​publicly acknowledging sharp criticism of the authorities from a celebrity blogger, saying work was under ‌way to address a slew of problems identified by social media influencer Viktoria Bonya. Viktoria Bonya, who is well known inside Russia for her appearances on reality TV shows and other programmes, has a huge social media following, and a video appeal she made to President Vladimir Putin this week was ​watched more than 20 million times and liked over 1 million times on Instagram. In her video appeal, Bonya – who ​lives outside Russia – said she supported Putin, but said that officials were not telling him the ⁠truth about the country’s real problems, that the Russian people were suffering, and that they were being squeezed so hard ​by corrupt officials that they might one day erupt. “You know what the risk is?” she 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.” KREMLIN SAYS WORK IS BEING DONE Among other things, she spoke out against a sweeping crackdown on the internet, social media and messenger apps, accused the authorities of being too slow to respond ​to floods in Dagestan, and said they had mishandled the outbreak this year of a cattle disease in Siberia that led ​to an unpopular culling. “The people are afraid of you,” she told Putin. “There is a big wall between the people and you,” she said, ‌blaming regional ⁠governors, government officials and lawmakers for not telling Putin the truth about what was going on. Instagram, like Facebook, is banned in Russia but Russians are able to watch it using virtual private networks. When asked about Bonya’s public appeal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Of course, we’ve seen it. It’s quite popular.” “It touches on many topics, on each of which, as you ca...