Russian Silver Medvedeva’s “Social Networking Move” Too Complicated

Russian women’s figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva, silver medalist at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, made global headlines after posting an anti-war message on her Instagram account. The world was both admiring and concerned about her criticism of the government in Russia, where information control is strictly enforced.

Medvedeva has recently attempted to “move” from Instagram to Telegram, a social networking service originating in Russia. There was a complicated reason for this.

Medvedeva was born in Moscow, Russia in 1999, her father is Armenian and her mother is Russian. She reigned as the undefeated absolute queen, but Alina Zagitova, who emerged like a comet, continued her rapid ascent and ended up with a silver medal at the PyeongChang Olympics.

Medvedeva is also known for her love of Japanese anime and Ghibli movies. In particular, she is a big fan of “Sailor Moon,” and performed at Dream on Ice in 2016 in a Sailor Moon costume.

In the midst of all this, Medvedeva posted a text on Instagram that smacked of protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedeva posted this black image using the Stories function on Instagram. On that black screen, she added the message, “Like a bad dream, I hope it all ends as soon as possible.

Perhaps partly to squelch these voices, Russia later announced an Instagram shutdown. It is said that it will gradually become unusable in Russia, and in such a situation, Medvedeva seems to have decided to evacuate to Telegram.

In order to pull followers from Instagram, Medvedeva launched a campaign. She is holding a giveaway in exchange for subscribing and commenting on her Telegram account.

It’s not Instagram, but this is the best way for fans to make sure she is safe. I hope the world will soon become a place where everyone can speak freely. And I sincerely hope that the war will end soon.