Russian Influencers Are Crying Over Putin's Instagram Ban & They're Getting Roasted Online

The backlash against Russia's invasion of Ukraine is hitting Russian influencers where they live: on Instagram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin officially banned access to Instagram in the country on Monday, leaving some of Russia's most popular influencers without access to their favourite money-making platform.

Putin gave Russians a few days to prepare for the ban, and several stars used that time to post tearful videos opposing the decision. However, many other users weren't having it, and they were quick to point out that Russians losing Instagram is nothing compared to Ukrainians losing their homes.

Russian reality star Olga Buzova used Instagram to share her tears with her 23 million followers, reported Yahoo News.

"I am not afraid of admitting that I do not want to lose you," said Buzova during the video, as translated by Yahoo. "I just shared my life, my work, and my soul. I did not do this all as a job for me, this is a part of my soul. It feels like a big part of my heart, and my life is being taken away from me."

The video has been watched more than 1.6 million times, and it's picked up a lot of angry comments since it was first posted on Sunday.

One user left a comment under Buzova's video saying: "God, in Ukraine, people are dying, children are in the subway, there is nowhere to sleep, they have lost everything, and you are crying because of Instagram."

"My God, why is everyone crying like that?" another user wrote. "It's not the end of the world after all!"

Another Russian influencer, Valeria Chekalina, changed her Instagram bio to "Instagram is no more," followed by a crying emoji and asked her followers to follow her on alternative social media platforms such as VKontakte (VK) in the meantime.

Another clip shared by Nexta TV, which is based in Russia-friendly Belarus, seems to show an unnamed Russian influencer crying about the ban. The woman in the clip says she is in the "first stage of grief."

"She does not care at all about the thousands of dead people, including her compatriots," the media company tweeted in response to her video. "Obviously, her biggest worry right now is that she won't be able to post pictures of food from restaurants."

A U.K. politician recently shared the video and it's been watched more than 1.8 millions times to date, although it's unclear who recorded it originally.

Putin decided last week to ban access to Instagram after Russian officials moved to label its parent company, Meta, an "extremist organization." Meta had just relaxed its rules around discussing violence for those who are actually trying to fight back against Russia in Ukraine.

The ban took effect on Monday, although it seems to only limit access to Instagram in Russia.

Russians' Instagram accounts are still visible online.