Strictly Come Dancing fans were left fuming as former professional Kristina Rihanoff shared a series of tweets that people deemed 'insensitive' in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian dancer took to the popular social media site to retweet a cartoon depicting caricatures of Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau.
The three Western leaders were shown with blood drawn on their hands, while Trudeau was depicted in blackface and Johnson was holding a glass of wine, referencing the party scandal which was unveiled at the end of 2021. Biden was drawn pointing, with the words 'Russian man bad' written in a speech bubble.
"Don’t even have to say anything - pure genius," she captioned the tweet.
The TV star later retweeted a headline shared by Sky News announcing that Russia had been kicked out of the Eurovision Song Contest, set to take place later this year.
"F….ing breaking news," Kristina wrote.
"Are you for real @SkyNews ? WTF! And where are we at with bringing @BorisJohnson accountable for ruining thousands of small business while parting during lockdowns?????? This tweet EVERYTHING WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE UK MEDIA & USELESS @GOVUK #Eurovision" [sic]
Disappointed fans were quick to call her out, with one fan even getting into an altercation with the TV dancer.
The former fan said: "Sorry Kristina, I have always liked you but I can't believe you've posted this given the horror happening in Ukraine! Completely inappropriate, you should be ashamed of yourself!"
The tweet evidently touched a nerve, with Kristina replying: "You obviously completely oblivious to how Russians were treated by extremists there for 8 yrs. I have family & friends there abused for simply speaking Russian! So don’t go on my timeline & preach to me U don’t have to follow me either in fact I’ll give you a favour and block you".
"Yet another insensitive tweet … extremely disappointed and concerned as people are losing their lives. If this happened to your country, as you alluded to earlier, then you should know how scary it is for these people," replied another.
A third simply said: "In VERY poor taste, unfollowed."
This is not the first time that Kristina has hinted at holding controversial views on Twitter.
The dancer also recently retweeted a statement by GB News journalist Lucy Jones, who, alongside colleagues including Julia Hartley-Brewer, has been vocal in her opposition to Covid restrictions.
"My uni ‘friends’ today messaged me saying they didn’t want to invite me to group meet ups because of my “views on Covid” & company I work for. Really have learnt who my real friends are the last two years," the tweet read.
