Overview
- Influencer Viktoria Bonya posted an 18-minute Instagram address to Vladimir Putin that criticized corruption, rising prices and new internet blocks, drawing tens of millions of views.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the clip and said it raised “sensitive topics” that officials were working on.
- State-aligned figures hit back, with TV host Vladimir Solovyov insulting Bonya on air and urging inquiries into possible foreign funding, and lawmaker Vitaly Milonov adding further slurs.
- Journalist Ksenia Sobchak and Ekaterina Solotsinskaya filed complaints over the televised insults, and Bonya announced a collective lawsuit against men who publicly degrade women.
- Exiled outlets reported that pro-Kremlin media and bot networks were told to stop amplifying the story, signaling tighter message control as public frustration over prices and speech limits grows.