Ekaterina Darma

Journalist Ekaterina Darma gave an interview to Nadezhda Sagittarius for her YouTube channel “Yay-well done” and talked about the persecution of the follower, her personal life and work. We have collected the most interesting quotes.

About relations with Timur Sardarov

I was with my first husband, Alexander, for 12 years. We broke up and this made room for my new relationship to happen. I live in a village, I have two goats, 12 rabbits, a dog, a cat. Timur is my partner in life (Timur Sardarov is the son of dollar billionaire Rashid Sardarov. – Approximately. ed.). We discussed the wedding, but right now is not the best time for a vacation. We’ve been engaged for a while. I don’t feel an appropriate moment for a vacation. I come from a very traditional and strict Caucasian family, so all this aesthetic (veil, pigeons, giant cake) has always scared me.

About tracking – how it all started

It happened two years ago, I never thought something like this could happen to me. How it all started: A girl approached me at one of our 24/7 Office corporate events. She said that she knows that we support the initiatives of young designers and wants to improve. The girl asked if I could help her with something. I then spoke to him politely but briefly and contacted someone to whom you could send your work. He began to write to me on social networks, tried to reach me for six months. The girl sent me a costume of her own design, we were supposed to shoot but there was a deadlock and I had to explain to her that there would be no photo shoot. She reacted very sharply, I asked her for a card number and I paid (20 thousand rubles) for this suit so that I did not feel like I owe anything. I thought this story was over. Then I flew away and the obscenity started. First, the girl began to share her personal story with me, how hard it was for her because she feels unrecognized. She then started insulting me, I blocked it but decided we were made to be together and the only thing standing in my way is my stubbornness. I didn’t know how to act. I tried to persuade him and stop him. But it’s all useless and pointless.

About threats

They were very different: to weaken, to rape. I asked my colleagues in the editorial office not to pay attention to the letters. I remember standing in a conference room, I looked up and he was standing behind the glass. I was scared because there was no one else in the office but me and the assistant. My driver came and fired him. Then, when it came to our corporate events, there were 2-3 more similar stories. I didn’t tell anyone about it as it was embarrassing. This is something you wouldn’t discuss with a friend over the glass in the evening.

About the “joke” with suicide

The morning after I went public with this story, I got a message that read, “I’m the mother of so-and-so, my daughter committed suicide yesterday, it’s all your fault.” I had a shock. The first emotion is the horror of what happened. An hour later I got another message: “He’s fine, sorry.”

In July, Ekaterina Darma spoke publicly about the persecution of the stalker. This news caused a heated discussion on Telegram and sparked a series of discussions that touched on the legal and psychological aspects of the issue – Spletnik has gone through this in detail.

About the fate of the media in Russia

All is well in terms of commercial results. We discovered new categories of advertisers, in addition to fashion, there are technology companies, pharmaceuticals, Russian cosmetics and clothing manufacturers. The Buro 24/7 case is unique, cannot be closed (by the will of the headquarters in another country) and we also have an international status.

About Russophobia

I am Georgian by nationality, but I have a Russian passport. Do I feel racially biased? Number. Not every four months of living in Italy. There are people around me who do not reason with the concepts of good and evil. People were more understanding.

About leaving the Buro 24/7 Miroslava Duma

At the age of 27, I was appointed as the editor-in-chief of Buro 24/7. I came to the editorial office as an intern. It was hard to imagine that the project could exist without an ideological inspiration. Until 2018, Miroslava was the main girl of the fashion world. The story of the Duma*, the first large-scale annulment.

Now the “cancellation culture” has reached its climax. People really like to participate in bullying. The formation of a common morality is a means of restraint. People are ready to show such hatred without judgment, without investigation, without understanding.

About communication with Miroslava Duma

Now we communicate very rarely, we wish each other a happy birthday, if suddenly there is a certain opportunity to discuss something, I can write to him. We’ve always had a warm, loving business relationship, but we’ve never taken a vacation together. He is my mentor, he raised me professionally. I am grateful to Mira for all the chances she gave me. I believe she’s coping with the lesson life has taught her. It’s an engine, it doesn’t sink. Had lung problems a year ago, now all is well.

*In 2018, Miroslava posted on Instagram** an invitation to the fashion show from her friend, designer Ulyana Sergeenko. The card was handwritten: “To all my niggers in Paris. Ulya.” This statement caused a wave of indignation in the society. Duma’s post was deemed offensive and racist, even though the phrase containing the banned word with the letter “n” was a quote from a Kanye West song.

**Instagram is owned by Meta, a recognized extremist organization in the Russian Federation.