A mega-rich Russian socialite couple who have pledged their allegiance to dictator Vladimir Putin are among the country's elites feeling the sting of sanctions.
Last weekend The Mirror exclusively revealed the country's mega-rich residents in Britain were reduced to tears by sanctions rolled in to halt Putin's atrocity-fuelled war in Ukraine.
And with luxury brands abandoning Moscow, a group of hurt socialites took to social media to cut up their Chanel handbags in response to the designer refusing to sell to Russian customers.
One socialite finding it particularly tough in the new landscape is pro-Putin influencer and music producer Yana Rudkoskaya, who is married to Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko - branded the despot's "embarrassing propagandist".
Horrified she's been deprived of frittering away thousands on her favourite brand Chanel, the 47-year-old didn't blame Putin for the sanctions which led to her fashion traumas.
Rudkoskaya was particularly upset and "humiliated" by the French brand's decision because she claims to have splurged over €1million (£835k) on their bags, dresses, and other flash clothes in recent years.
It's not the first time Rudkoskaya has made a vulgar display of her wealth. Just last year, she enraged her Instagram followers after casually asking them to vote on which one of her four Porsches she should take for a spin.
Draped head-to-toe in Louis Vuitton and with an extravagant pair of sunglasses resting on her nose, the businesswoman was filmed inspecting and polishing her fleet of cars - a 718 Cayman S, 911 Turbo Cabriolet, Panamera GTS and Porsche Cayenne.
With a combined cost of around £300,000, fans were rightly outraged when she asked her five million fans to vote on which one she should drive to a Russian music awards ceremony.
One follower summed up the mood in the comments section: "Why to show off like this? We struggle to buy medicines for kids."
Another said: "The amount of vulgarity is overwhelming."
But now amid a backdrop of war and atrocities committed against innocent civilians in Ukraine, both Rudkoskaya and her figure-skating husband are under fire for more insidious reasons.
Seven-time European champion ice skater Plushenko, a superstar in Russia famous for skating to Tom Jones' 'Sex Bomb', has positioned himself very clearly beside Putin from the start of the invasion.
Some news outlets even suggest he is vital to Russian pro-war efforts, and has been branded Putin's "embarrassing propagandist" by German media.
After Putin's war rally held at a Moscow sports stadium, Plushenko announced he was proud of the dictator's "special operation" and said that he "believe[s] in our president and trust him". This is despite the fact that Plushenko's own grandfather is Ukrainian.
His words have affected fellow skaters, with pair skating Olympic champion Alijona Savchenko telling Germany's Morgen Post : "I think it's sick what he says, I can't understand it. It's so inhuman."
In the days after and no doubt bolstered by Putin's own advisers and aides, Plushenko went on to announce he would go on a show tour of the two "people's republics" in Donbas - where Russian forces are now focusing their attack.
And Plushenko's behaviour in the weeks since the war broke out on February 24 has not gone unnoticed.
In his most recent tweet on March 18, around three weeks after the invasion, he promoted a company trialling an online "metaverse" system after also posting about selling NFTs - a sign he could be in need of extra cash.
Twitter users from as far away as Japan slammed him for his comments, calling him Putin's "dog" and saying his children should be "ashamed".
A German user said: "You have blood on your hands! Poor children to have such a father!"
Similar outrage was heaped on the couple in 2018, after they revealed they used brutal methods to discipline their ice-skating progeny son, Alexander 'Sasha' Plushenko, who would've been just seven at the time.
When he was less than a year old, Mrs Rudkoskaya announced that her baby boy was a fashion model.
Before that, he made his first performance on the ice while still wearing nappies.
Two years ago Rudkoskaya revealed they used a belt to beat Sasha when he was naughty, and when he behaved the "wrong way with his nanny or other children".
Rudkoskaya also revealed the couple forced him to sit in a dark closet as another form of punishment.
She reportedly said at the time: "Don't take pity on a child if you want to be the best on the planet."
Though she has vowed to make the boy the "best skater on the planet", she denies putting too much pressure on him.
Speaking to Russian Tatler, Spletnik in 2018, she confessed the couple raise Sasha - who trains on the ice three times a day - with "iron gloves" and admitted she is often "reprimanded" for "excessive cruelty".
In the online showbiz magazine interview, she was accompanied by her son who was asked to name the punishments.
He immediately said: “The belt.”
