Strategic Overview for Brands: Top Russian Social Media Influencers

By the end of 2024, the volume of the Russian influencer marketing market reached 42 billion rubles, exceeding the previous year's figures by 37%.

In 2025, further market growth is expected, but according to expert forecasts, its pace may slow down and align with the overall economic development in the country.

At the present moment, Russian influencers are concentrated on the following media platforms: VKontakte, YouTube, and Telegram. This is down to the immense popularity of these social networks amongst users in Russia. Moreover, well-known bloggers are still active on Instagram, continuing to publish content and securing top positions in the TOP-20 ranking based on follower engagement.

Let's discuss this in further detail.

VKontakte: Leaders and Trendsetters

Many leaders and trendsetters have held their positions in the rating for quite a long time.
 

Anna Nemchenko ranks first in the VK rating. She is a Russian actress and blogger. In addition to her acting career, she runs popular social media accounts. Initially, Anna focused on developing her profiles on Instagram* and TikTok, but she is now highly active on VK. In her group, she shares moments from her personal life, career achievements, and inspiring content. She also posts about fashion and self-fulfillment.

The second place in the Russian-speaking segment of VK is held by TikTok and YouTube blogger Vadim Spiridenkov. Vadim started his career with short sketches in TikTok and quickly gained popularity in this niche.

In third place is Elena Samchuk, a popular Russian blogger known as samchuk_studio. She began her career on YouTube and TikTok, where she posted humorous videos about everyday life. Now, on VK, she continues to cover topics related to daily routines, family relationships, and personal observations, all with humor and positivity.

The integration of Detsky Mir into Elena Samchuk's VK Clip

Dmitry Maslennikov, who took 4th place, is known for his explorations of abandoned places and mystical sites. Next, 7th place went to Rustam Nabiev, a motivational blogger who shares his experience of overcoming difficulties. 11th place was claimed by Marmok, thanks to his amusing video game reviews. Besogon, a project by Nikita Mikhalkov, landed in 13th place. The musical project RADIO TAPOK secured 15th place for its covers of popular songs, while Yegor Split, who creates entertaining vlogs, took 16th place.

The rating also includes celebrities who moved from Instagram to VK. Oksana Samoylova, a model and entrepreneur, took 8th place, continuing to share family and fashion content. In 12th place is actress Ekaterina Klimova, who actively posts moments from her personal and professional life. Viktoria Skladchikova, known for her fitness and healthy lifestyle tips, ranked 15th. Sergey Zhukov, the musician from the Ruki Vverh! band landed in 19th place, actively engaging with fans on VKontakte.

Gamers at the top of Russian YouTube

The top 20 most influential video bloggers on YouTube are a community of letsplayers with a significant audience and influence in the sphere of online content. It is worth noting that all the bloggers presented are also successfully developing in other social networks, including VKontakte, Telegram, and TikTok. This makes them attractive for various advertising integrations.
 

Vlad Bumaga A4 is the undisputed champion of the YouTube world. The Belarusian video blogger, singer, and creator of the popular YouTube channels "A4" and "A5" is the clear choice for the top spot in the ranking of the Top 20 channels on YouTube. With his boundless creativity and knack for keeping viewers engaged, Vlad is a shining example of the best Russian-speaking YouTube has to offer. His impact is also felt across social media platforms like VKontakte and Telegram.

Brian Maps, aka TheBrianMaps, is a brilliant representative of Russian-speaking YouTube, whose videos never cease to amaze and amuse viewers. With his unique sense of humor and talent as an impersonator, he has won a lot of fans. Thanks to his activity on social networks, including VKontakte and Telegram, his popularity continues to grow. He's currently in 2-е second place. 

The third place went to the talented video blogger Dima Maslennikov. In his videos, you'll find everything from fascinating life hacks to exciting extreme videos. Ranked among the top 12 richest YouTube bloggers in Russia, Dima is not only creative but also an entrepreneur. His VKontakte and Telegram accounts are also in active operation.

Traditionally letsplayers took places in the ranking: YouTube-famous Marmok (4th place), colorful video blogger, streamer, and letterplayer EdisonPts (5th place), Andrey Windy, Russian letsplayer on Minecraft and horror games, also known as windy31 (11th place), MrLololoshka (Roman Filchenkov) (6th place) with his videos dedicated to survival in Minecraft with mods. Kuplinov is in 15th place, Kompot is 16th. 

The ranking also includes streamers and bloggers with other entertainment content. These include ExileShow, also known as the musician Exile (7th place), EGORIK, who became popular thanks to his scary quests and Challenges (8th place), GLENT (12th place), and Elena Reitman, a popular vlogger whose videos consist of humor content and her interactions with fake video bloggers (13th place).

Zhekich Dubrovsky, who is known for reviews of rare cars took 14th place. The rating also includes Ivan Zaichenko, a popular cooking blogger (10th place). 

Video blogger and singer Anastasiz, who was nominated in the "New Media" category of Forbes' "30 Under 30" ranking the year before last, took 9th place.

In addition, newcomers have also entered the ranking. In the 13th place is the blogger Nastya and her channel "Nastya, Where Are You?" (nastyawhere), where she creates videos about unusual food and places. Blogger Connor (connorcheck), who publishes only Shorts on YouTube, testing various life hacks, gadgets, and other devices is 18th.

Blogger Telegram Сhannels in Russia

In 2022, messenger became a reserve platform for many bloggers, allowing them to continue their activities in case of possible restrictions or blocking in other social networks and VPNs. Now, the authors' Telegram channels are at the TOPs in Russia and successfully compete with the news publics.
 

 

 

 

 

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Публикация от Ирина Пинчук (@pinchuk_official)

Advertising of a personal online product in Irina Pinchuk's Instagram profile

The second half of the top 20 includes hip-hop and rap artist, video blogger Dava, video blogger and singer Alina Levda, Marita Plieva, Anastasiz, Katya Klap, actor and screenwriter Evgeny Kulik, TikToker Anya Pokrov, actress Anna Khilkevich, streamer and singer Tenderlybae. The last spot went to actress and model Anya Ishchuk.

It is clear that many celebrities in Russia still publish their own content (including advertising). At the same time, they duplicate publications and maintain accounts on other social networks to be "on the safe side'. For example, since the beginning of 2025, popular YouTube bloggers have been announcing the availability of their video content on VK.

More information about Instagram after its blocking is here.

Multichannel: An Effective Influencer Strategy for Brands

The Ozon marketplace collaborates on an ongoing basis with popular blogger Elena Samchuk (Samchuk_studio). Advertising integrations can be found not only in her VKontakte group but also on her Instagram account.

The VKontakte and Telegram ratings include many celebrities who started their careers on Instagram, such as Oksana Samoylova, Ekaterina Klimova, Shaman, which shows their success in transferring their audience and influence from one social platform to another. 

The most important thing the ratings show us is the variety of popular content. That is, success on social media is not limited to a specific genre or format. This gives the green light to customize advertising campaigns to suit different topics and audience interests. You can read our in-depth market analysis and key trends of Influencer Marketing in Russia and CIS in our special edition. 

RMAA will help you develop your advertising strategy and choose the right bloggers to achieve your goals in the Russian and CIS markets within the planned budget. We have our own database of influencers and extensive experience in promoting various products with the help of bloggers. Contact your RMAA manager for a consultation soon. 

Also, we encourage you to stay up to date with the latest developments. Subscribe to our blog for up-to-date information on marketing.

* SM Influence is a social media influence index developed by Medialogy.

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