Veronika Belotserkovskaya

Veronika Borisovna Belotserkovskaya^[a] (née Protopopova^[b]; born 25 June 1970) is a Russian journalist, media manager, blogger, TV presenter, publisher and entrepreneur, author of popular cookbooks. She has also been a publisher at Sobaka.ru and also owns a culinary school in southern France.

Veronika Belotserkovskaya Вероника Белоцерковская
Born	Veronika Borisovna Protopopova (1970-06-25) 25 June 1970 (age 53) Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Education	Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology
Occupations	Publisher entrepreneur cook writer TV presenter blogger photographer
Spouses	Yan Antonyshev ​ (divorced)​ Boris Belotserkovsky ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2017)​
Children	3

Biography

Belotserkovskaya was born on 25 June 1970 in Odesa^[1] in the family of an engineer and a teacher of the Russian language. She attended the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology and later the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors.

Prior to 2003, Belotserkovskaya had been involved in television advertising and served as co-owner and general director of Trend St. Petersburg. She once owned the Moscow and Saint Petersburg versions of Time Out before selling them to "C-Media" in 2014.^[2] A video version of the culinary recipes of Veronika Belotserkovskaya was released on the Domashny TV channel.^[3][4] In 2014, Belotserkovskaya starred in the ironic video clip of the Leningrad song "Patriotka".^[5]

In mid-2010s, Belotserkovskaya started a culinary blog on the blog hosting platform LiveJournal. Her vivid photos and recipes were mixed with everyday lifestyle notes. Soon, the blog attracted millions of followers.^[6] Belotserkovskaya developed the passion for cooking into further projects such as exclusive gastronomic tours and cooking classes with world top chefs in Provence, Tuscany, Piedmont and Sicily. By 2021, she had published several cookbooks, all of which were bestsellers.^[7][8]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Belotserkovskaya publicly condemned Russian invasion of Ukraine via her social network accounts, mainly in Instagram.^[9][8]

On 16 March 2022, Belotserkovskaya became the first individual charged under the "fake news law" in absentia in relation to the war in Ukraine.^[10][11] Belotserkovskaya herself learned about the criminal case “from Telegram channels”.^[12] In April 2022, authorities seized Belotserkovskaya’s property in Russia.^[9]

On 6 February 2023, she was sentenced in absentia to nine years incarceration as well as being banned from operating a website for a further five years following the end of her incarceration.^[13][14]

Personal life

Belotserkovskaya was first married to artist Yan Antonyshev with whom she had a son.^[15] Her second husband was businessman Boris Belotserkovsky.^[15] They had two sons before divorcing in 2017.^[15] Belotserkovskaya currently lives in southern France.^[16]

Notes

1. • Russian: Вероника Борисовна Белоцерковская
   • Ukrainian: Вероніка Борисівна Білоцерківська, romanized: Veronika Borysivna Bilotserkivska
2. Russian and Ukrainian: Протопопова

References

1. . meduza. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
2. . Delovoy Peterburg. 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022.
3. . Ogoniok. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021.
4. . Archived from the original on 2012-06-09. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
5. . Woman.ru. 6 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020.
6. Albertina Torsoli, Alexandre Rajbhandari (2022-03-17). "Russian Influencer Targeted By Kremlin Under New Censorship Law After Posts Turn Political". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
7. "Nika Belotserkovskaya: "Once you start, you become your own source of energy and power"". Monaco Tribune. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
8. Marco Imarisio, Marta Serafini, Elvira Serra (20 March 2022). "Macha, Belonika e Paolo: dalla Russia all'Italia, gli influencer si mobilitano" (in Italian). Correiere. Retrieved 2023-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. "Веронику Белоцерковскую заочно приговорили к девяти годам. Это самый большой срок по статье о "фейках"" [Veronika Belotserkovskaya was sentenced in absentia to nine years. This is the longest sentence under the 'fake news' article] (in Russian). BBC News. 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
10. "Russian celebrity chef faces jail over Ukraine comments". The Times. 17 March 2022.
11. . Kommersant. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022.
12. . Kommersant. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022.
13. "First Person Accused of Spreading 'False Information' on War Jailed in Absentia for 9 Years". The Moscow Times. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
14. "Вероника Белоцерковская заочно приговорена к 9 годам колонии". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
15. . vokrug.tv. Archived from the original on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
16. "'It is not possible to stay quiet': Putin's first victim of 'fake news' law speaks out". The Guardian. 17 March 2022.