Influencers in Russia have been left distraught after their country's recent decision to ban Instagram.
Russia announced last week that it would be banning the app in the country due to parent company Meta's decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against President Vladimir Putin as well as Russian forces invading Ukraine.
The ban came into effect on Monday, and just a day before, reality TV star Olga Buzova - who has 23.3 million Instagram followers - uploaded a video showing her crying over the imminent loss of her following.
"I am not afraid of admitting that I do not want to lose you," she said in Russian, as translated by Insider.
"I do not know what the future holds. I don't know," she continued.
"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," Buzova added.
The 36-year-old concluded her video by saying that she was "going to go and continue crying." The video has since accumulated more than 700,000 views.
What's more, yet another Russian vlogger, whose name is unknown, sobbed shortly before the ban, saying she was in the "first stage of grief".
"Do you think that for me, as an Instagram influencer, this is a source of income?" she said in Russian. "To me, it's all life. It's the soul. It's the one thing with which I wake up, fall asleep. F***ing five years in a row."
Other Russian influencers encouraged their fans to instead use Telegram or the VK social network in order to continue consuming their content there.
"Instagram is no more," wrote Valeria Chekalina in her Instagram bio, alongside a crying emoji. The content creator, who is expecting a baby and has a following of 10.5 million, added that in future her content would be shared on Telegram and VK.
While many of these influencers have received an influx of support, some were appalled that they were expressing devastation over social media as opposed their country having been invaded by a longstanding enemy.
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