Popular Russian blogger and TV personality, Anastasiya Ivleeva, is at the centre of a storm over an 'almost naked' party. Held at an elite Moscow club, Wednesday's event featured a strict dress code, with tickets costing up to one million rubles ($10,767).
It has drawn condemnation from civil society, lawmakers and public figures alike.
Several complaints were also filed with Russian law enforcement agencies, accusing the organizers of LGBT propaganda, drug use, and extremism.
The party at Mutabor club was attended by a number of Russian celebrities, ranging from prominent pop singers such as Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan and five-time World Music Awards ‘Best Selling Russian Artist’ Philipp Kirkorov, to former presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak.
Photos and videos from the event have been widely circulating on social media. The images and clips show both celebrities and regular partygoers posing almost naked or in see-through dresses. A ticket to the event reportedly cost around .
The images were widely condemned by various Russian public figures and even Ivleeva’s own fans, who criticized her on social media.
State Duma MP Maria Butina filed a complaint with the Interior Ministry, media watchdog Roskomnadzor, and the Culture Ministry over the event, calling on the authorities to “provide a legal assessment” of the actions of the party’s organizers and its participants.
Butina specifically questioned the party’s compliance with Russia’s new LGBT ban, as well as the national policy of protecting traditional and family values.
MP Dmitry Gusev made an appeal to the biggest Russian media broadcasters, calling on them to boycott all the participants of the party and either drop them from their programs or replace them with other celebrities.
Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of the Safe Internet League, a nonprofit promoting “media literacy,” made a similar appeal.
“Such people should face a boycott at the state level,” Mizulina said in a Telegram post, adding that events such as this run counter to the national policy of protecting traditional values.
Several other civic organizations called the event “nauseating” and “Satanic,” filing complaints with the Interior Ministry and the Russian Investigative Committee.
Prominent TV host and media personality Vladimir Solovyev slammed the party, calling its organizers and participants “morally deaf.” Such people “understand nothing” about their own nation, he said, adding that events like this are absolutely inappropriate when Russia is engaged in a military conflict and “our guys are fighting on the front lines.”
The Russian authorities have not officially commented on the matter. According to Life News, Moscow police raided the club that hosted the event the following night. Details of the raid are not yet available.