Irina Shayk accused of backing Putin with Instagram post

Russian supermodel Irina Shayk is being accused of supporting Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in an Instagram post featuring the “Z” symbol seen on Russian tanks and military vehicles.

The 36-year-old brunette bombshell — who was in a long-term relationship with Grammy Award-winning actor Bradley Cooper before the pair split in 2019 — posted an Instagram Story on Wednesday showing a traditional Russian Olivier salad along with the phrase “Russianzz on [Wednesday].”

But the curious spelling of “Russians” with a “z” quickly prompted outrage online from critics who viewed her post as support for the ongoing war.

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“Irina Shayk – world-famous model from Russia who’s recently worked for Beyonce, Jean Paul Gaultier, Burberry & others – posted a weird cryptic story on Instagram with the word ‘Russianzz,’” Kyiv-based journalist Maria Romanenko tweeted. “I really hope these brands reconsider working with her when Russia uses Z to kill Ukrainians.”

Others accused Shayk, who shares a 5-year-old daughter with Cooper, of not being “ashamed of supporting fascists” with the mysterious post.

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The thick backlash came even despite the model and actress previously posting “No to War” in February — and vowing to donate to Red Cross officials in Ukraine.

The vicious response — to what was almost certainly not a message of support for Putin’s invasion — highlights the difficulties and discrimination faced by Russian immigrants across the US amid the war.

In New York City, staffers at the iconic Russian Tea Room in Midtown have reportedly received death threats and harassment online.

A restaurant owner in San Diego, who serves food from former Soviet republics, said his eatery started receiving abusive phone calls after the war begun.

“We started getting more serious calls, with people yelling and screaming at us,” Ike Gazaryan, who is ethnically Armenian but has lived in Russia, told Time Magazine in March.

“As if we have something to do with this war, blaming us for what the Putin regime is doing. We had people calling, saying, they’re going to blow sh-t up.”

Sarah E. Mendelson, the head of Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College in Washington and a longtime expert on Russia, told ABC News that can’t recall such intense anti-Russian sentiment — even after Russia’s bombing of Syria and its invasion of Crimea in 2014.

“It’s an emotional response — it’s not actually a rational response,” she told the outlet. “People ought to take the time to figure out what’s going on.”

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Meanwhile, the post was no longer visible on Shayk’s Instagram profile as of early Friday and she has not commented on the backlash.

Still, her latest post from a week earlier was inundated with critics who blasted her for using the “Russianzz” reference.

“Shame on you,” one reply read.

“If you are so proud of your terrorist country Russia, then leave to live there,” another critic replied. “Why then do you live in the country of his enemy? Terrible.”

“I will never touch any brands that you promote, neither any of my friends will,” another reply read.

Shayk dated Cooper, 47, from 2015 to 2019. Their daughter, Lea De Seine, was born in Los Angeles on March 21, 2017.

Before Cooper, the Russian stunner dated Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, for five years. Ronaldo ended their relationship and announced their split in early 2015.

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