”Totally thoughtless’: Russian Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff is slammed for ‘insensitive’ tweet

1.1k

View
comments

Kristina Rihanoff came under fire over the weekend for raging: ‘I don’t give a s**t about the war’ on Twitter.

The Russian dancer, who served as a professional on Strictly Come Dancing from 2008 to 2015, shared the since-deleted post while detailing how her business had been impacted by the pandemic.  

The shocking tweet read: ‘I do want to focus on what sort of punishment Boris Johnson will have for destroying my family run business and 1000 of others. Many of my friends LOST businesses because of government lockdowns.

‘Don’t give a s**t about the war but I do about the debt because of NO TRADING for 2yrs.’

Kristina, 44, also hit out at a Ukrainian journalist who announced her mother’s fleeing from the country. 

‘Why don’t you report about everyone who was abused in Ukraine by extreme nationalists for 8 yrs Prohibiting families to speak Russian language, terrorising peaceful Russian families which I know many who live in Ukraine,’ the dancer wrote in reply. 

The enraged content didn’t end there, with the mother-of-one also discussing the diverted attention from Boris Johnson’s ‘diabolical’ parties.

‘Thoughts – Biden can only change his diapers on his own, he can’t do anything else. People who control him know that war is very profitable. 

‘Let’s make sure war happens. At all costs. And isn’t it great that UK no longer angry at diabolical parties. How convenient,’ the angry tweet read. 

The next rant was directed at Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, following the news of sanctions against Russia.

Kristina fumed: ‘Nobody gives a flying monkey about your sanctions. Just like bfr ALL countries will crawl back AGAIN begging to trade & start tourism. 

‘Stand up first for UK & sort out your own s**t & get geography & history lesson next time you go to Russia to talk politics U R #embarrassing’. 

An additional post that has now been deleted showed a cartoon of US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson pointing and saying ‘Russian man bad’ atop a pile of bodies.

Kristina captioned: ‘Don’t even have to say anything – pure genius’.

The opinionated content sparked fury among Twitter’s users, who told the ballroom pro to ‘read the room’ and ‘delete the insensitive tweets.’

On Sunday, Kristina, who was born in Vladivostok but now resides in Northampton with rugby player partner Ben Cohen and their daughter Milena, five, took to Twitter with a lengthy apology, saying she is ‘deeply sorry’ for offending anyone. 

In full, the statement read: ‘I made fun of Eurovision tweet by Sky. I did think there was far more important information on that day that Eurovision. This is in any form says I was supporting what’s happening at the moment between Russia & Ukraine. 

‘It’s absolutely devastating for someone like me who’s grandad from Ukraine and I gave Ukrainian name to my daughter Milena. My best friend is also from Ukraine. I grew up with knowledge that we were one nation and one country.’

She continued: ‘I’m not into politics and hate politicians because THEY ALL LIE. Seeing the news is breaking my heart as I have Russian friends who live in UKRAINE and vice versa. 

‘The awful thing is that there is casualties on both sides and on both sides mums & dads will cry for their lost relatives. The point is that this shouldn’t ever taken place, never should have happened. 

‘The country leaders Should have found the way along time ago to sort this peacefully but they didn’t bcs war is a profitable business and someone unfortunately making profit on this. 

‘I’m not supporting Putin, war, invasion, lost lives and politics. I hate it as much as a human being possibly can. If I offended anyone it wasn’t my intention and I’m deeply sorry. While I was born in Russia I left it 22yrs ago and an American citizen. 

‘So you can hate me if this will give you comfort but If I didn’t say something you wanted me to say it’s bcs sadly I’m powerless doing anything to help anyone in both countries and I don’t believe in useless posts which can’t help to safe lives. 

The message concluded: ‘I can only hope and pray like everyone that this is over soon. And it’s really sad that the hate is so powerful everywhere you look at the moment. The whole world is burning in it’. 

‘They know who they are’: Strictly’s James Jordan slams Russian dancers who have remained tight-lipped on Ukraine invasion – and tells them to ‘stay the f*** off social media’ if they are ‘too scared’ to speak out

By Millie Payne for MailOnline

James Jordan has slammed Russian dancers who have not spoken out about Ukraine’s invasion by their native country’s troops. 

In the latest update, hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered in cities across the world to demand an end to the war Russia‘s Vladimir Putin has waged on Ukraine.  

And as news surrounding the conflict continued to grab headlines on Sunday, the former Strictly Come Dancing professional, 43, said he was ‘very disappointed’ that many Russian dancers had remained tight-lipped about the ongoing situation. 

James, who is married to Polish-born fellow former Strictly pro Ola Jordan, penned his fervent tweet: ‘I don’t see many of the Russian dancers I know and have even shared the Strictly dance floor with them openly speaking out about the war against Ukraine [the country’s flag].

‘But are still promoting themselves on social media – very disappointed [sad face] They know who they are – not 1 post about it [sic]’.  

The message was not well-received by one disgruntled tweeter, who hit back with: ‘What an ignorant, thoughtless comment. They probably have family in Russia that could suffer the consequences of anything they say. Think before you type.’

Standing his ground and determined to reinforce his point, the 2019 Dancing On Ice winner replied: ‘If they are too scared to speak out against wrong then stay the f*** off social media for a while and stop with the self promotion during this horrific time. 

‘Have some respect Or …… maybe they are not speaking out because they are brainwashed too.’  

Someone who echoed James’ impassioned messages was Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.

She urged dancers to ‘show some sensitivity towards the suffering in Ukraine.’

‘You don’t need to promote yourselves, your shows, your competitions and teaching every single day…Your colleagues, students competitors and their families are in the middle of a shocking war and need your support..

‘YOUR business can wait. Show some respect. We are one family,’ she wrote on her Instagram Story.   

Other stars of the BBC dance show have used their platforms to raise awareness, including those with direct ties to Ukraine. 

Professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin is a native of the Eastern European country and shared a photo of its flag to Instagram, alongside the word ‘Heartbreaking’. The post was immediately met with supportive messages from colleagues and fans.

Meanwhile, Motsi Mabuse has been updating her concerned followers with news of her in-laws, who are currently stranded in the country.

Sharing a photo with her Ukrainian husband Evgenij Voznyuk on Sunday, the dancer penned: ‘We stand with the people of Ukraine and we are against racism at the border against our brothers and sisters!!!!! If the people are not safe , we also not safe #standwithukraine’.

Russian dancer Katya Jones, who was paired with Adam Peaty in last year’s series, took to her Instagram story with the message: ‘Praying for peace and love in the world [prayer emoji, heart emoji]’. 

From London to Berlin to Tokyo to Vilnius, hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered in cities across the world to demand an end to the war Russia’s Vladimir Putin has waged on Ukraine.  

Thousands gathered in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Sunday morning for an anti-war rally amid international rage at the invasion of Ukraine even as Russia’s troops pressed towards the capital, Kyiv. 

Police said large crowds have filled the area originally planned for the demonstration, around the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, and that they were allocating additional space to accommodate the protesters.

Sunday’s protest was peaceful, including many families with children. People waved yellow and blue Ukrainian flags to show their support. Some carried placards with slogans such as ‘Hands off Ukraine’ and ‘Putin, go to therapy and leave Ukraine and the world in peace.’ 

More gathered in Madrid holding flags and banners that accused Putin of being akin to Hitler and of carrying out a genocide while demonstrators in the South Korean capital Seoul staged a protest outside the Russian embassy. 

Ukrainians living in northern Iraq held an anti-war rally on the doorstep of the United Nation’s office in Erbil and women gathered in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius holding placards that branded the Russian president ‘Europe’s biggest aggressor’. 

Meanwhile Pope Francis denounced the ‘diabolical and perverse logic’ of launching a war in Ukraine and called for humanitarian corridors to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the ‘tragic’ invasion of their homeland in his strongest public comments yet on Sunday.  

Francis has refrained from calling out Russia by name as he seeks to mend ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, and he again omitted any reference to Moscow on Sunday. 

But he said: ‘Those who make war forget humanity,’ adding that warfare ‘relies on the diabolical and perverse logic of weapons, which is the farthest thing from God’s will.’