‘I was literally in prison.’ Owner of Lady Gaga fan account with 480,000 followers returns as reports identify him as a Belarusian protest prisoner.
The owner of a Lady Gaga fan account on X said he had been offline for two years because he was arrested in early 2024 “for protesting against the government” and sentenced to two years in prison.
On September 22, the following English-language post appeared on the Gaga Daily account, which has more than 480,000 followers:
Sorry about the lack of updates, I was literally in prison 😭
Kirill here. If you don’t know me, I’m the owner of Gaga Daily, and every social media post you saw from 2009 through 2024 was from me. I never use this account to post anything personal, but I feel like I owe you all an explanation. In early 2024, I was arrested in my home country for protesting against the government and sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Kirill’s surname is not given, but the same X post links to his Instagram account, which contains several photos, including some of Kirill himself. Some were taken in Moscow, and the account also mentions Minsk. It is unclear whether he was imprisoned in Russia or Belarus.
Kirill’s last Instagram post before the long gap is dated March 1, 2022. It includes a video from inside a police van, with the Kremlin visible through the window. His next post is dated September 22, 2026.
The Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti said the author is Kirill N., a 32-year-old from Minsk. According to the channel, he was detained in Belarus in early 2024 and sentenced to prison in a case involving “organizing group actions that violate public order.” The channel said this provision is frequently used against participants in Belarus’s 2020 protests.
According to the news outlet Ekho, Kirill’s surname is Nguyen. On May 10, 2024, he was sentenced to prison for taking part in protests in Minsk. He was released in April 2026.
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