English Media "Sergei Shoigu's Illegitimate Child"
"While Children of Russian Elites Use SNS,
Children of Commoners Return Home in Coffins"
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, claims have emerged that a 20-year-old singer who fled the country to avoid conscription is the illegitimate child of Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.
On the 8th (local time), the British Telegraph reported that associates of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny revealed that Danila Shebunov (22), a singer recently active under the stage name "Sheba," is the illegitimate child of Minister Sergey Shoygu.
The British Telegraph reported that singer Sheba (22) is the illegitimate child of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. [Photo by Sheba Instagram]
Navalny is an opposition figure considered an adversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) in 2011 to expose corruption among high-ranking Russian officials.
Previously, a Russian media outlet reported that Minister Shoygu, who has two daughters from his marriage, also fathered three children with a flight attendant, but Shoygu denied this. Sheba was identified as the eldest son of this flight attendant, who is alleged to be Shoygu's mistress.
The Telegraph reported, "Sheba began his activities just before the war, and on the day the invasion started, he posted videos on TikTok singing popular songs."
Departed for Turkey just before the mobilization order... switched Instagram to private
According to the media, Sheba reportedly left for Turkey a few days before President Putin issued the mobilization order last year. On September 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, "I have already signed a partial mobilization order. It will take effect from today."
At that time, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu emphasized, "The mobilization target is about 300,000 people, which corresponds to 1% of the total reserve force of approximately 25 million."
The Telegraph stated, "(When the mobilization order was issued) Sheba was staying at a luxury resort on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. He posted videos showing him lounging on the beach all day, surfing, and receiving massages."
After Navalny's camp's revelation was reported, Sheba switched his Instagram account to private. Although the account is now public again, all posts containing his personal daily life have been deleted.
Regarding this, Maria Peptikh, a close associate of Navalny and an investigative journalist, criticized, "Sheba does not need to serve in the military, nor does he need to risk his life to escape the mobilization order." She added, "Sheba is a VIP's child. His father will not send him to the front lines," and "Others will fight for him."
"While elite children use social media, commoners' children become cannon fodder"
As Russia's war of invasion in Ukraine enters its 16th month, skepticism about the possibility of victory is growing among Russia's political and economic elite classes.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, a private military company leading the hardline nationalist faction, said in a media interview at the end of last month, "While the children of the (Russian) elite proudly post videos of applying cream on the internet, the children of commoners return in coffins as shattered corpses."
He warned, "This disparity could end like the 1917 (Russian Bolshevik) revolution, where soldiers first rose up, followed by their loved ones."
Even Sergey Markov, a pro-Crimea political expert in Moscow, said, "There was once an expectation that Russia would control most of Ukraine, but that expectation was not realized," and evaluated, "There were too many major mistakes."
Meanwhile, on the 8th (local time), Russia claimed to have repelled an offensive by Ukrainian forces that entered the southern region of Zaporizhzhia after a battle.
According to AFP and others, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said, "At 1:30 a.m., Ukrainian forces entered the Zaporizhzhia region with 1,500 troops and 150 armored vehicles but suffered heavy losses and ceased their attack, retreating."
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