Elizaveta Vasilenko, a 24-year-old creator born in Dnipro with a following of nearly 9 million on TikTok, became the center of a major controversy in 2021.
In an interview on Pushka’s channel, Vasilenko stated that life in Russia felt more favorable than life in Ukraine. At that time she had been living in Moscow for several years and spoke positively about the Russian capital relative to Kyiv. She echoed this sentiment later on a podcast hosted by the blogger Eldar Dzharakhov.
“When trouble comes my way, I often think it’s better to be here than in Ukraine,” the blogger remarked, leaving her interlocutor visibly surprised.
Dzharakhov expressed hesitation about comparing the two countries. Vasilenko, who was born in the Lipetsk region, noted that brief visits to Ukrainian cities in the past had left him with a favorable impression.
The remark was made before the start of the special military operation but resurfaced in early 2022, drawing sharp criticism from Ukrainian followers once a short clip from the interview circulated on social media.
In June 2022, the influencer offered a public apology for the comment about preferring life in Russia to life in Ukraine. “We all make mistakes, and I’m willing to accept the consequences of mine,” she added. Vasilenko announced her departure from Russia and severed financial ties with Moscow. The interview with the TikTok creator was conducted in Prague, the Czech Republic. “I gave up everything, all money, all advertising in Russia. I am deeply committed to my principles and won’t return,” she asserted in the interview.
After leaving Russia, she spent time in Turkey, visited friends in Spain and France, and by mid-2022 had made the Czech Republic her temporary home. “There is no single place where I want to settle permanently. The future remains unpredictable, so I live for the present,” she explained.
On her VKontakte profile, she later listed Girona, Spain, as her current residence. In June 2022 she indicated she would not yet return to Ukraine, adding, “I’m still searching for myself and as long as my family is safe, I allow myself to dream. If things become unbearable, I will always find my way back.”
silent return
Recent information indicates Vasilenko has spent several months back in Russia, as reported by socialmedia outlets. She stopped posting on Instagram after the platform owner, Meta, faced restrictions in Russia. Her last known post appeared in November 2022, with images purportedly taken in Barcelona. The same content later surfaced on VKontakte.
Her YouTube activity has diminished in recent years, though she remains active on TikTok with short video updates. Much of her latest filming has taken place in Sochi, with scenes near the Akter Galaxy residential complex, including a video filmed at the complex and another featuring her with a fellow blogger at its entrance.
Vasilenko has not publicly commented on her return to Russia. No new TikTok uploads appeared since spring 2022, and activity appeared to resume toward the end of 2022. Early posts after a hiatus suggested a return to Moscow, including a clip filmed at the Maly Theater before newer content from Sochi emerged, according to viewers who follow her posts closely.
Observers note that other Russian-based creators appear in videos with Vasilenko, including the 23-year-old singer Dora (Daria Shikhanova) who danced with her at the Maly Theater.
A separate brief clip showed Dora joining Vasilenko with another well-known influencer, while dancer and creator Danya Milokhin and model and blogger Rina (Irina Petrenko) appeared in recent footage from Sochi. In Sochi, 25-year-old Georgy Pomgisebe has also been seen filming with Vasilenko for TikTok.
Vasilenko’s life in Russia
Following the onset of the special military operation, Vasilenko left Russia, deeming continued residence in Moscow risky for personal safety. She explained that her departure was deliberate and designed to avoid entangling friends in political travel restrictions. In a consoling encounter with a Kyiv-based colleague who visited Moscow, she shared a candid memory of a young man trying to navigate the border at the moment of his own confusion about crossing it. He told her that accompanying his friends would expose him to risk, and she took that advice to heart, eventually booking a flight to Turkey to minimize scrutiny.
Her decision to return to Russia later in 2022 appears influenced by a favorable stance toward the country’s opportunities for content creators. She previously highlighted that Russian-based creators can receive higher compensation than their counterparts in Ukraine. She also urged viewers not to condemn Ukrainians who work in Russia, saying that one should not judge people based on nationality or where they went.
Vasilenko moved to Moscow to advance her career with Xo Team House before the project ended. Since then, she has kept her professional circle small and continues to publish not only on TikTok but also as part of paid content on OnlyFans. She once stated that earnings from subscription-based content were a significant income source for her. “I’m not ashamed of it. My parents were upset, but I had to be honest about it. It was important for me to share everything,” she admitted. Reports indicate she earned roughly $40,000 from OnlyFans in a three-month period, roughly three million rubles at current exchange rates.
Before the special operation began, Vasilenko appeared in the Myrotvorets database, a site that catalogs individuals believed to have acted against Ukraine. The entry labeled her a provocateur involved in Russia’s information campaigns against Ukraine and noted her Ukrainian origins. There were unverified reports that she attempted to pay to have the profile removed; those claims suggest a transactional effort to alter the listing, but the profile remains accessible in search results. Vasilenko confirmed her attempts to resolve the issue through third parties but stated that she was scammed. She noted the financial loss and the complication of paying in rubles, which she implied attracted scammers.