A pair of Russian female influencers who shared a passionate kiss and posted it to social media were forced to apologize and say it was all a joke after authorities interrogated them for displaying “lesbian” love that could harm children.
Vlada Alchaeva, 24, posted a video to both her TikTok and Instagram accounts with her friend Vika, 19, as the two shared a romantic dinner inside a pizzeria in Krasnodar, a city in the southwestern part of Russia near the Black Sea.
The friends’ date night included flowers, hand-holding and a proposal before the long-dramatic smooch, according to the US Sun, citing video from media company East2West.
Alchaeva had posted the “scandalous” video to both her TikTok and Instagram accounts, even though Instagram is already banned in Russia.
Although she had labeled the kiss as a “joke, just for a bit of a laugh” the video reached an international audience, catching the attention of Russian police, who quickly detained both women in the video and brought them down to a station for “serious questioning.”
One of the questions posed by cops to the women was: “Did you understand that your video could be watched by minors and that the French kiss that you performed might have harmed their psyche?”
Vika responded by saying she was unaware of the audience the video would reach.
“I was not thinking that it could have influenced anyone. I did not think about it. I did not know.”
“No, no, no! It was just a joke. I’m very remorseful, I’m very sorry,” the teen responded when asked if she often kisses other women.
“We started filming when we were kissing and I’m proposing to her which we are very sorry about and won’t do it again,” she said.
As the cops continued to interrogate the two women, they began to understand what kind of trouble they could face.
“I only now starting to realize what we have done. And I understand that we should not have done it,” Vika reportedly said.
After she was released from her questioning, Alchaeva reportedly talked to a Russian journalist and made clear her sexual orientation.
“I would never trade [male genitals] for [female genitals], I love men.”
“I do not support any prohibited movements. For some reason, people thought [the proposal in the video] was real. She and I are friends,” Alchaeva told the reporter according to the US Sun.
While the women seemingly escaped any imprisonment for the “joke,” they did not go unpunished, as Alchaeva was fined $2,210, while Vika was handed the lower $1,105 for her role in the French kiss.
Under Putin’s rule, Russia has effectively banned the LGBTQ community, following several different laws and the countries highest court outlawing all activism in November.
Following the “landmark ruling,” cops targeted gay clubs, nightclubs, male saunas and other venues to enforce the new laws against the movement, which the court had deemed had shown “signs and manifestations of an extremist nature” including “incitement of social and religious discord.”
Putin has also outlawed same-sex marriage in the country, a provision included in the 2020 government reforms that extended Putin’s time as president by two terms.
