Bonya, a 46-year-old single mother and former reality TV star, said in the video published on April 14 that she supports Putin but accused officials of not telling him the truth about Russia's real problems. She criticized internet and social media restrictions and the slow response to flooding in Dagestan. The video had 30.6 million views, 1.6 million likes, and over 85,000 comments by Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the video was 'quite popular' and said work is underway on the issues. However, anonymous sources told Meduza that the Kremlin demanded media stop covering the story, suggesting a possible disconnect between public statements and internal directives. Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, blogger Artemy Lebedev, and Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov publicly attacked Bonya with insulting remarks, with Solovyov accusing her of working for the West and asking Russia's top state investigator to check if her outburst broke laws.
Vladimir Vladimirovich, people are afraid of you.
Bonya threatened a class-action lawsuit against Solovyov, Lebedev, and Milonov, and called for Solovyov to be removed from television. She called Solovyov 'an enemy of the people' and asked Russian women to join her in the lawsuit. Bonya also posted an AI video on Instagram showing herself fighting the propagandists as Spider-Woman. She denied working for anyone but herself. It remains unclear what specific legal action Bonya will take and whether the Kremlin will address the issues she raised.
The people are afraid of you, artists are afraid, governors are afraid.
You know what the risk is? 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.
It is quite popular. It deals with many topics that are being worked on, as you can see. A large number of people are involved, and none of this has been ignored.
I want to ask a question to all of us women - when did we miss the moment when women began to be insulted on federal TV channels?
There are lots of mothers who bring up their kids on their own. By insulting me you insult them all.