Russian blogger thanks Kremlin for watching her address to Putin, tells TV Rain she is ‘not with’ them
Victoria Bonya, who recorded a video address to Vladimir Putin, has thanked the Kremlin for “not ignoring” her. The blogger released a new video after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to journalists’ questions, said that the Kremlin had seen Bonya’s address, which had generated enormous public response.
Peskov said that Bonya’s address — which racked up more than 1 million Instagram likes in two days — touched on “resonant issues” that were receiving “a great deal of attention, with a large number of people involved, and none of it has been left unaddressed.”
In a new video recorded on April 16, Bonya said through tears that she was moved to learn the Kremlin had seen her address and had reported that “work is already underway on the issues we raised.”
Bonya said she had watched “a couple of breakdowns of my interview on some BBC [Russia], on TV Rain.” She added: “Please don’t drag me into that — I’m not with you, I’m with the people, I’m inside the people.”
She also said she does not know what will become of her after the address to Putin, but that “it was worth it.”
She said no one had paid her to record the address, and that not doing so “would have been a betrayal of the Russian spirit.” “I want us to live our very best lives in our great country,” she said.
Within the first hour after the video was posted, it had received more than 190,000 likes.
Victoria Bonya published an address “on behalf of the people” to Putin on April 14. She listed 5 issues on which, in her view, the president is not being given the full picture: flooding in Dagestan, pollution on beaches in Anapa, rules that allow the killing of animals listed in the Red Book, the seizure of livestock in the Novosibirsk Region, and internet restrictions.
On April 15, Bonya said that after publishing the address she had been contacted by journalists, including Yury Dud, as well as the independent Russian broadcaster TV Rain and the independent Russian investigative outlet The Insider. She said she had no intention of giving them interviews, since she is “not some kind of opposition figure.”
Support for Bonya came from Aiza, the ex-wife of rapper Guf, a TV presenter and blogger with 4 million Instagram followers. In her own address, Aiza also named issues troubling Russians, including corruption.
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