Natalya Bochkaryova is a Russian theater and film actress, singer, TV presenter, and director. She gained the greatest fame for her role as Dasha Bukina in the popular sitcom "Happy Together". She was born on July 25, 1980, in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod). She actively performs in theater, stars in continuations of television projects, and is raising three children.
In April 2017, she was added to the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for illegal touring activities in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Natalya Bochkaryova's stance on the war in Ukraine
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Natalya Bochkaryova openly supported the military actions:
We are doing everything to strengthen faith. Faith that we will win anyway, that we will endure anyway. We need to be patient. Everyone needs to unite, everyone needs to pull together. I want to wish strength and God's help to the residents of Donbas. We are with you. We are by your side.
The actress began openly broadcasting the narratives of Russian propaganda in her interviews and on social media. In one interview, she stated:
People of faith, Orthodox people, people who truly care about freedom, who care about peace, need to unite, but specifically the right kind of peace — free from neo-Nazis. Because we, compassionate Russians, did not finish them off back then in the Great Patriotic War, but now all crimes must be punished.
Visiting occupied territories
In May 2022, Bochkaryova personally visited occupied Donetsk. According to her, she traveled there together with a nun to deliver humanitarian aid for children and for wounded "SVO" fighters. In an interview with the "Za Donbass" YouTube channel ("Union" TV channel), she stated:
I want to say a big thank you to President Putin that it is now possible to come to Donbas. We stopped by a church where we prayed to God and said: 'Thank you for not bombing it.'
Bochkaryova regularly travels with performances and visits to temporarily occupied Crimea, as well as Donetsk and Luhansk.
The actress also took patronage over the cadets of a school named after the liquidated "DPR" warlord Aleksandr Zakharchenko. In response to criticism and hate from anti-war internet users, the actress states that she considers herself a patriot of her homeland, does not read comments, and plans to stay with Russia "until the end".
The actress also shared that her 16-year-old son is a cadet. As she claims, when he is mobilized for war, she will go to the front along with him — for which she only needs to finish nursing courses.
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