Russian blogger whose angry appeal to Putin went viral hits back after state TV attack

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) – A famous blogger whose harsh criticism of authorities is watched by tens of millions of Russians has hit back after one of state television’s best-known political presenters accused him of “working for the West” and called for him to be investigated.

Vladimir Solovyov, a fiery talk show host who has been sanctioned by the West for his support for the war in Ukraine, launched a scathing on-air attack on Victoria Bonya over the weekend, combining personal insults about her appearance with accusations that she is part of a shadowy Western conspiracy to undermine the Kremlin.

Bonya, who lives in Monaco and denies working for anyone other than himself, called Solovyov an “enemy of the people” and said he should be taken off the air. He said she was one of the few public television personalities who spoke about women in unacceptable ways.

“I want to ask all of us a question: When did we miss the moment when women began to be insulted on federal television channels?” Bonya, a 46-year-old single mother, said she was fed up with women like her being publicly dismissed as prostitutes or escorts.

“There are many mothers who raise their children alone. By insulting me, you are insulting them all,” said Bonya, adding that her page has received nearly 500 million visits and her presence on social media is greater than Solovyov’s.

Known in Russia as a former reality TV star, Bonya has so far limited herself to videos about her life and beauty tips and has amassed more than 13 million Instagram followers.

But he triggered a political storm with a video appeal to President Vladimir Putin, telling him that he supported him but that he had not been told the truth about Russia’s real problems and that ordinary people were so squeezed by corrupt officials that they might one day explode.

The Kremlin took the unusual step of acknowledging Bonya’s criticism – her video clip has since been viewed nearly 30 million times – and insisting that the problems she listed were being worked on, including a sweeping crackdown on the internet. The claim that Putin is immune to bad news has been rejected.

‘FOREIGN AGENT’?

Solovyov asked live on air why Bonya had not yet been identified as a “foreign agent” (a label with negative espionage connotations dating back to the Soviet era) and asked Russia’s top state inspector to check whether the explosion violated any laws.

“It is not in the power of this worn-out whore to open her dirty mouth and block the information field,” Solovyov said.

Bonya responded by promising petitions and a possible lawsuit to have Solovyov taken off the air.

In trying to turn the situation around, he also asked authorities to check whether the extreme language he sometimes used in his publications about various individuals and groups did not violate Russian law.

A humorous new video created with the help of artificial intelligence The film, which was viewed 10 million times in just 24 hours, shows Bonya dressed in a Spider-Man suit, shooting a web at Solovyov’s face and tackling two other outspoken male figures whom she accuses of misogyny.

Passersby on the streets of Moscow interviewed by Reuters were mostly sympathetic to Bonya.

Nadezhda, one of the administrators, said that she believes that every Russian has the right to talk about their country, even if they are outside Russia.

“I didn’t like it when they started insulting him,” he said. “For people who have some kind of influence in society, this seems absolutely wrong.”

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow. Additional reporting by Nika Khutsieva in Moscow. Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones)