War and Instagram: A Russian Media Civil War Plays Out Live

(MOSCOW) – A prominent Russian state television host has issued a rare on air apology to a blogger after a public dispute that began when she addressed the Russian dictator directly with domestic grievances, exposing tensions within the Kremlin’s tightly controlled media sphere over what topics are permissible and who is allowed to voice them.

Vladimir Solovyov, host of the programme “Full Contact,” welcomed blogger Victoria Bonya to his show after weeks of trading insults. The conflict began when Bonya recorded a video appeal to Vladimir Putin, listing concerns she said ordinary Russians had communicated to her. Solovyov responded at the time by accusing her of being paid by Western interests and directing a stream of personal insults at her.

Bonya opened the broadcast by explaining her motivation. “I first wanted to write a text and read it out, then I realised I am not the person who likes reading texts. I am going to say what I feel,” she said. She described how “your one sided battle against me began after my address to the president.” She held up a small envelope containing notes. “I addressed pressing issues that really worry people today, but for some reason I heard insults from your side in response, accusations that someone wrote this text for me and that someone in the West paid for my appeal, which caused me surprise.”

She challenged Solovyov directly. “I decided to take the opportunity of this broadcast to ask these same questions again, because they are pressing, they are important. I am doing this genuinely, from how I feel, from what people write to me. I have a huge audience.” She added, “I would like to hear an apology from you. I believe it is a strong position when people can admit they are wrong.”

Solovyov conceded. “You look wonderful. Yes, of course, I must apologise. You are absolutely right. Of course, I was too emotional. And of course, whatever my motivation was, I should have been much stricter with my words that were said on live air,” he stated. He rejected however the label of misogynist, claiming “70 percent of misogynists are women” and noting that many female guests appear on his programmes.

The host then revealed the true source of his fury. “What drove me into a rage was your opening message, when your words addressed to Putin were: ‘People are afraid of you.’ You said the people asked you, and then you listed who these people were. You named bloggers, artists, governors. ‘People are afraid of you.’ This caused an instant reaction in me.” He insisted, “Putin is loved by the people of Russia, not feared. People come out to see him. He stops the car and gets out to talk to people.”

Solovyov invoked the war in Ukraine as a dividing line. “Girls on the front line recorded a message asking why he listens to those who left and pays attention to them, while those of us who chose our position, who love him and are not on Instagram, are not heard.” He pressed Bonya, “When your address contains everything except the war, for people who do not live on Instagram, this is pain. For us, the war is here right now. Today there were strikes in Tuapse, and not small ones. We have strikes everywhere.”

Bonya defended her focus. “I do not talk about foreign policy. I have not talked about foreign policy all these years. I sense enormous tension. I feel it in my heart, in my soul. That is precisely why I made this statement.” She pushed back against Solovyov’s implication that her platform was frivolous. “When you talk about Instagram, the authorities reacted immediately in Dagestan after my post. Immediately. From the very first moment.”

Solovyov claimed personal knowledge of the dictator’s workings. “I know how Putin operates, how the information gathering system works. I know Putin personally. I understand how deeply this man is immersed in everything that happens.” He extended an offer for Bonya to host her own platform on his network, acknowledging her concerns had validity despite the initial clash.

The exchange then veered into a demand from Solovyov that Bonya apologise to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he has previously insulted. Bonya refused. “I believe this is ugly and wrong. You cannot insult one woman and not another. One can be insulted, another cannot, and a foreigner can be insulted while our own cannot. This is wrong.” Solovyov deflected, asking why Italian politicians who called the Russian dictator “bloody executioner and terrorist” were not forced to apologise. “Who will apologise to Putin? Who will apologise to our people? Should they apologise or not for the insults they inflicted on him?”