A glamorous reality TV star named Victoria Bonya filmed a nearly 19-minute video from Monaco, speaking directly to President Vladimir Putin. In the video, she told him that he does not understand what is happening in his own country. Within ten days, roughly 31 million people had watched it on social media. Bonya, a former cast member of the reality show "Dom-2," said she supports Putin but wanted him to know about serious problems. These included floods in Dagestan, pollution near Anapa, livestock being seized in Novosibirsk, cellphone blackouts, and difficulties for small business owners. The Kremlin responded carefully, saying the issues were not being ignored. However, April was a difficult month for the Russian government. Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov admitted that Russia's reserves had been largely used up. Russia's GDP had shrunk 1.8% in the first two months of the year. Oil and gas revenues fell by close to 45%. Putin blamed seasonal factors and demanded explanations from the government and the Central Bank. Warnings also came from inside the political system. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned that Russia could face a crisis similar to 1917 without urgent action. Putin's approval ratings also dropped from 77.8% at the end of December to 65.6%. The government's response included raids on independent media outlets and publishers. Security officers visited the Moscow office of Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper whose former editor won the Nobel Peace Prize, and detained investigative journalist Oleg Roldugin. Officers also entered Eksmo, Russia's largest publishing house, and seized thousands of books in an extremism investigation. Meanwhile, cellphone signal continued failing across Russian cities, with authorities claiming this was necessary to stop Ukrainian drones.