Russian Influencer Video Draws 32 Million Views as Gallup Poll Shows Record Economic Pessimism

Victoria Bonya posted an 18-minute Instagram video in April 2026 that criticized Vladimir Putin’s handling of the Russian economy and received approximately 32 million views along with 1.7 million likes. The former Russian television presenter, now based in Monaco, addressed issues including the government response to extreme flooding in southern Russia earlier this year, rising inflation, and tax increases.

Bonya stated in the video: “You know what the risk is?

A Gallup poll published Tuesday recorded the highest level of economic pessimism in two decades of the survey. Sixty percent of Russians said economic conditions were getting worse, up from 39 percent the previous year. Twenty-seven percent said conditions were improving.

Fifty-six percent considered their living standards to be worsening, also a record high, and 58 percent said it was a bad time to find a job. Russia’s liquid sovereign wealth fund assets have fallen to 1.8 percent of GDP from 6.5 percent at the start of the war in Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute. The government’s target budget deficit for 2026 was exceeded in the first quarter.

Oil and gas revenues dropped 45 percent in the first three months of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. The government raised the value added tax from 20 percent to 22 percent last year. Ukrainian military strikes have limited output at Russian refineries for months, while Russia has increased trade with India and China to offset Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.

He added that higher spending risks generating inflation rather than greater military output given labor shortages and sanctions on imports.