The MIRROR reported that Russian internet celebrity Valeria Tatarintseva, known on TikTok as Lera Izumrud, has 7.5million followers and shared a video of her bringing a bear into her apartment in Mytishchi, a Russian area of Moscow Oblast. The influencer intended to show the bear to her 1-year-old son, Mark, which sparked outrage and concerns from her neighbors. The videos she shared of the bear have since been deleted, but not before other social media platforms have shared them on their sites.
The video clip showed an excited Valeria bringing home a 30-stone bear with the help of a man with a leash. She mentioned that she ordered the bear for her son and wanted to see what his reaction would be. In another video, she is seen playing with the bear, this time without the leash. She was standing behind the bear while dancing. Valeria’s son was never seen in any of the videos she shared, but she is seen playing with the bear and stroking the huge animal.
Aware of the videos going viral on TikTok, Valeria’s neighbors said they were unacceptable.
“The neighbors showed me a video of a huge bear being brought into our apartment building,” an unnamed neighbor said. “This crosses all sorts of boundaries. This is a wild animal. It does not belong in an apartment building. And what if it had encountered children or pets in the hallway? It was kept on a lead with only one person accompanying it. If the animal had felt provoked by something, it could have led to terrible consequences.”
The videos were since taken down but have caught the attention of local authorities. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow Oblast, an investigation was launched by law enforcement agencies. Charges will center on animal mistreatment and child endangerment.
People around the area where Valeria lives with her son are concerned for the other residents in the building. A bear from the wild has natural instincts which, if triggered, will have unimaginable consequences.
Credits to: AWR (Asia Wire Report)/YouTube
Images credits: @lera_izumrud/TikTok and MIRROR News UK
