One of Vladimir Putin’s top propagandists has apparently turned on him.
Reality star-turned-pro-Kremlin influencer Victoria Bonya, 46, released a video appeal telling the Russian leader that his own people are scared of him.
“Ordinary people are afraid, bloggers are afraid, artists are afraid,” she said. “Governors are afraid of you.”
The Daily Mail reports that Bonya fears the 73-year-old is out of touch with what is happening in Russia because people are too afraid to tell him the truth, and as a result, he has no idea of the extent of his people’s suffering.
Her video, titled “An appeal to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. From all concerned Russians,” quickly racked up millions of views and saw her suggest that he is surrounded by yes men, sycophants, and oligarchs.
“The most frightening thing is that this is happening because you, Vladimir [Putin], do not know what is going on in the country,” she said. “You are not being given accurate information.”
“Businesses are dying—small and medium-sized businesses. People are losing money," she said.
Bonya, who herself resides in Monaco, won praise for her comments from some Russians who felt she was taking a stand for ordinary people, while others accused her of being “naive” by suggesting the Russian president was not aware of the damage the Kremlin has been doing to its own people.
She warned that if things don’t get addressed, they will only get worse.
“Do you know what this leads to? I’ll tell you. People will grow tired of being afraid. They are being compressed like a spring - and one day that spring will snap.”
It’s been a tough week for Putin, after Hungary elected new Prime Minister Péter Magyar.
His ousted rival, longtime autocrat Viktor Orbán, had close ties to Putin and had often slowed and frustrated EU efforts to aid Ukraine and keep Moscow in check.
“If Vladimir Putin calls, I’ll pick up the phone,” Magyar told reporters on Sunday.
“I don’t think it’ll happen,” he added, according to the BBC. ”But if we did talk, I’d tell him to please, after four years, put an end to the killing and end this war.”
The war in Ukraine continues to take its toll on Russia and its economy, with sources telling the Financial Times in March that Putin was petitioning oligarchs for donations toward the war.
Ukraine announced Tuesday that it had won a battle against Russia and forced his forces to surrender using only robots and drones.
In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “For the first time in the history of this war, an enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms–ground systems and drones.”
