The Daily Populous Monday March 7th, 2022 evening edition
Authored by insider.com and submitted by evissimus

Some children of rich Russians are protesting the invasion of Ukraine on social media.

They include Maria Yumasheva, the daughter of Valentin Yumashev, a trusted advisor to Putin.

Russian celebrities including the supermodel Irina Shayk have also urged peace online.

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Rich Russian kids are known for showing off their lavish lifestyles on Instagram, but some have been using the platform to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Among the loudest voices is Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite and TV host who has regularly shared posts condemning the attacks with her 9.3 million Instagram followers.

Sobchak, who's been called "Russia's Paris Hilton," is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg. Despite her family's close ties to the president, she became an unlikely challenger to Putin in the 2018 presidential race.

In a post last week, Sobchak urged peace, writing that "global geopolitical interests cannot be more important than the simple, peaceful life of millions of people."

A post shared by Ксения Собчак (@xenia_sobchak)

Maria Yumasheva, the 19-year-old granddaughter of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, expressed support for Ukraine on the first day of the attacks.

Yumasheva is the daughter of the billionaire Valentin Yumashev, a trusted advisor to Putin who has been credited with helping the president come to power, the BBC reported.

On her Instagram account, she posted a photo of the Ukrainian flag alongside a broken-heart emoji and the caption "No to war." She has disabled comments on the post.

A post shared by masha yumasheva (@yumashkaa)

Her Russian footballer fiancé, Fedor Smolov, 32, posted a black square on his Instagram account, also with the caption "No to war!!!" alongside emojis of a broken heart and the Ukrainian flag. Comments on his post were also disabled.

A post shared by Fedor Smolov (@smolovfedor_10)

Others condemned the invasion via Instagram Stories.

Sofia Abramovich, the 27-year-old daughter of the tycoon Roman Abramovich, posted an Instagram Story in late February that said, "The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin's propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin."

The image included the text "Russia wants a war with Ukraine" with the word "Russia" crossed out and replaced with "Putin."

The post has expired, but a screenshot was shared on Twitter.

—Situation Room 101 (@SitRoom101) February 26, 2022

With an estimated net worth of about $13.5 billion, Roman Abramovich is one of Russia's richest men. But he's reportedly been scrambling to offload his assets as the country's oligarchs are hit by sanctions.

Russian celebrities have also condemned the invasion on their Instagram accounts.

Irina Shayk, a supermodel with 17.7 million followers, posted a picture of a peace sign and said she would donate to Unicef and Red Cross Ukraine.

Natalia Vodianova, a supermodel with 3.3 million followers, wrote in a post: "As a mother my heart goes out to all mothers who are suffering the consequences of recent events in Ukraine and everyone effected by this conflict.

"Women will be the ones carrying most burden of this conflict and I want them to know that they are not alone," she continued.

bad_russian_girl on March 7th, 2022 at 08:56 UTC »

Check out lisa_peskova on Instagram, the daughter of Putin’s press secretary. She posted no war sign in her story, then deleted it after daddy explained to her how things work and who pays for her luxurious French lifestyle…

ol_stumpy on March 7th, 2022 at 07:35 UTC »

I personally witnessed a wealthy Russian kid lose his mind last week as the sanctions unfolded. This happened in Antalya, Turkiye, we stayed at the same hotel. The dude wore a designer suit at every meal, looked like Russian Ritchie Rich, and went from going carte blanche, to arguing about the bill in less than three days.

highburydino on March 7th, 2022 at 06:53 UTC »

Can be as cynical as it deserves, but ultimately every bit helps.

Every bit of personal pressure, every new angle to push for peace. It all helps.