A popular Russian blogger and
TikToker says the Ukrainian
conflict is a 'catastrophe'
A Russian blogger told Insider that the Ukrainian conflict feels akin to a "civil war."
The two former Soviet countries share a similar culture, language, and customs.
"Ukraine is absolutely a different country," Natalia Konstantinova told Insider. "But we have so many ties together."
A popular Russian blogger and TikToker told Insider that her country's unprovoked assault in Ukraine is a "catastrophe."
Natalia Konstantinova, who runs the popular TikTok and Instagram accounts @natashasrussia from which she educates her hundreds of thousands of followers on all things Russian culture, said the past four weeks have been difficult to process as Russian forces continue targeting Ukrainian cities and civilians.
"It's actually devastation," Konstantinova said of what's happening in Ukraine. "It's catastrophe because something has happened that none of us could imagine."
For weeks leading up to the invasion, Western intelligence suggested such an attack was possible, but both Russians and Ukrainians were skeptical that full-on war was around the corner.
Now, one neighbor attacked the other; a conflict that Konstantinova compared to a "civil war."
"Ukraine is absolutely a different country," she told Insider. "But we have so many ties together. We have a lot of relatives. We have a lot of friends."
The two former Soviet countries share a similar culture, language, and customs. Some regions in Ukraine are even primarily Russian-speaking. Many Russians have family members and friends living in Ukraine, exemplary of the deep historical ties between the two countries.
But much of Russian President Vladimir Putin's pre-war propaganda focused on the false notion that Ukrainian sovereignty was nonexistent; that the country was created by and dependent on Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that conditions for peace must include Ukrainian sovereignty as well as security guarantees and the restoration of territorial integrity.
Konstantinova, who said she has friends in Ukraine whom she tried to help at the onset of the war, acknowledged that the current Ukrainian and Russian plights are not comparable.
"Ukrainians suffer the most because they lose their homes," she said. "They lose their families."
The United Nations on Thursday said the Ukrainian civilian death toll now exceeds 1,000 and more than 3 million people have fled the country.
Still, she said, Russian citizens are feeling the blowback of Putin's war, as well.
"It affects us also," she said. "Like so much."
Konstantinova said Russians are dealing with rising prices and a depressing economy as a result of international sanctions. As a blogger, Konstantinova said she and other Russian content creators are struggling to make ends meet after a slew of payment systems and financial institutions suspended operations in the country.
Konstantinova withdrew all her money from PayPal before the system was blocked in Russia, so she's not yet certain what the impact will be on her finances now that the platforms are null.
"We will see next month how it's gonna be, as people can't donate directly anymore," she said.
She also said she's had to combat an uptick in online attacks and internet hate targeting her nationality and aiming to make her "ashamed" of being Russian.
"So all of us get these messages that we are baby killers, that we are awful," she said. "That we are the killers, we are the evil ones."
But Konstantinova said she refuses to buy into that idea.
"It's not a shame to be Russian right now. Nobody should be ashamed of their nationality or ethnicity," she said. "It is a shame to be Putinist, yes."
While she doesn't condone the online attacks, she told Insider she does understand the sentiment behind them.
"I know that they see in me like the whole population of the Russian Federation," she said. "And they see in me a person who's responsible for all of this. But it's not true."
The attacks, she said, are likely coming from people who feel helpless — a feeling she understands fully.
"You sit there and you can't do anything and it's probably the worst feeling ever," she said. "We see it and we can't change anything."
By speaking out against the war — or as Russians have been instructed to call the conflict, the "special operation" —Konstantinova knows that she risks consequences amid the country's crackdown on public dissent.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law that would punish anyone who shares "false information" about the war with up to 15 years in prison. The country also banned Facebook and Instagram under a new "extremism law."
As such, she is extra cognizant of her platform and believes it gives her a responsibility to inform and educate.
"There are so many people who live here, and for right now I see that if I have this tool to connect average people from abroad to average people who live here — so I'm gonna use it till like no, till the end," she said. "Until I'm detained or something. So, it's a great responsibility.
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