Russian blogger’s fierce critique of Kremlin goes viral: ‘People are afraid of you’ | Russia
The Kremlin is grappling with the consequences of the viral spread of a famous blogger’s criticism of Russian authorities, while Vladimir Putin’s popularity rating records its sixth consecutive weekly decline.
Victoria Bonya, a well-known name in Russia who rose to fame in 2006 on Dom-2the nation’s answer to the reality TV show Big Brother, released a video on Monday warning the Russian president that a series of growing problems risked spiraling out of control.
“People are afraid of you, artists are afraid, governors are afraid,” she said in the 18-minute Instagram video, which has garnered 26 million views and more than 1.3 million likes in the past four days.
She rattled off a list of issues that no regional governor would dare raise directly with Putin: flooding in Dagestan, oil pollution along the Black Sea coast, livestock slaughter in Siberia, internet shutdowns and pressure on small businesses from rising prices and taxes.
“Do you know what the risk is? » asked Bonya, who lives outside Russia. “That people will stop being afraid, that they will be stuck in a coiled spring, and that one day that coiled spring will spring out.”
Moscow took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging the harsh criticism on Thursday, saying work was underway to resolve the problems identified by Bonya.
Notably, the influencer’s comments were not directly aimed at Putin himself or the war in Ukraine, suggesting that the intervention may have been coordinated with Moscow to signal that the public’s grievances would be heard before this year’s parliamentary elections.
This approach fits a familiar Kremlin strategy: presenting Putin as the “good tsar” kept in the dark by errant officials. This narrative helped the president shift blame for the country’s problems onto his subordinates, thereby preserving his personal position even as discontent grew.
Political analysts, however, say the outburst was probably not coordinated, but rather reflects a spontaneous reaction to simmering discontent across the country.
“War fatigue is really starting to set in,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political scientist and author of a recent book on Putin’s ideology. “People are starting to understand that everything that is happening is a consequence of the war. »
Kolesnikov added that it had become increasingly difficult for authorities to explain the impact of the war on daily life, from the economic downturn to tightening restrictions on the internet.
Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin adviser in exile, said public appeals from Russian celebrities such as Bonya could lead to more discontent within society. “Bonya brings a fundamentally new audience to the opposition camp that did not exist before,” he said.
“Their discontent is also growing, there are problems with the Internet, prices in stores are increasing, the war is making them angry. The state is interfering in their private lives,” he said.
Putin’s approval and trust ratings have fallen to their lowest levels since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to a series of recent opinion polls conducted among state and independent organizations.
In a meeting with senior officials on Wednesday, the president tacitly acknowledged strains in the economy, pressing the government and central bank to explain why performance has failed to meet expectations this year.
Putin also faces simmering anger from the hawkish community of pro-war bloggers, some of whom are in front-line units, and who are increasingly frustrated by Moscow’s slow progress on the battlefield and mounting casualties.
Andrei Filatov, a journalist at Russia Today, wrote this week: “The real losses are either completely concealed or spread out over time, giving the impression at the top that the situation is not that critical. As a result, the army is not adapting.”
