Russian twin influencers, Adelya and Alina Fatkheev, have mortified just about everyone with a video they posted to Instagram. In which – brace yourselves – the women are shown hand-feeding sushi to a homeless man in a wheelchair.
Their video was apparently the influencers’ entry for a competition called “We Care”, hosted by the association Youth Of Tatarstan. It was the twins’ attempt at winning an iPhone. And if that doesn’t already send tingles to your moral compass, don’t worry, it gets worse.
From the competition’s name, we assume the aim for entrants was to demonstrate an act of kindness, however, it’s the twins’ interpretation of the word that’s under scrutiny.
The video features the glammed-up pair as they walk down a street where they happen to “stumble” across a homeless man in a wheelchair. Yes, it is as tragic as it sounds. You can watch for yourselves:
The over-dramatic piano track playing throughout is… a lot, but it’s the moment the twins spot the homeless man for the first time that sends the cringe levels through the roof. The pair turn to each other and, in downtrodden voices, call him a “poor thing” – in sync. At least, that’s what The Sun claims. But you really don’t need to understand Russian to pick up on the condescending vibe.
As the video progresses, the girls use a food app to order sushi which they then proceed to hand-feed to the fully-grown man, using chopsticks. Please, pause for a moment here to absorb all of this, there’s much to absorb.
The video ends with the man voicing his gratitude. According to news.com he says: “Everyone knows that there are good people who can help.”
Understandably, many people were super peeved by the video. Some felt the women had no intention of genuinely helping the actually homeless man, Yuri Zasorin, who found himself in a wheelchair after experiencing frostbite to his legs.
It’s all a bit suss that these two, very well-off women would enter a competition to win an iPhone. Some publications have even dubbed the whole thing a pure publicity stunt.
The takeaway? Perhaps a ‘genuine’ act of kindness shouldn’t be motivated by anything other than a desire to be kind.