Blogger Who Flew Into Closed Airport Moves On

A year ago, 23-year-old Yekaterinburg resident Maria Shalaeva made headlines across the country. The blogger, who had nearly 70,000 followers, posted a video of herself flying on a military aircraft with her young son into the closed Platov airport in Rostov. According to her, the flights were arranged by a high-ranking romantic partner allegedly connected to the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin. Here is how the scandalous traveler«s life has changed since then.

In the summer of 2025, after a flurry of media coverage, Shalaeva deleted all compromising videos and photos and made her social media profile private. Later, after returning to the public eye, she admitted she had gone through a difficult period: “perpetual despondency,” anxiety, alcohol. “The resonant situation gave me a push, some kind of strength,” Maria said at the time, claiming she now had the motivation to run her blog and do useful things. She spoke at length about women«s self-realization and about how she was “not okay” with depending on a man.

Apparently, that very “push” really worked. By August 2026, Maria Shalaeva had undergone a noticeable transformation. She returned to her natural hair color and almost completely dissolved her fillers — her look became noticeably softer and more natural.

Since January 2026, Maria has been in a relationship with a man named Ivan. Judging by all appearances, this is not the same “Mr. X” who flew her into an airport closed to civilians. The blogger openly shows her partner on social media, records videos together, and does not hide the romance. The couple travels together and is raising Maria«s son from her first marriage. Ivan, based on the content, is actively involved in family life. Followers note that the young woman has literally blossomed in the relationship.

It seems Maria has met the very worthy man she previously spoke about only in theory. Her blog has now grown to 130,000 followers. In it, she broadcasts a quiet family life with travel, shared daily routines, and raising a child.

How did it all begin?

Maria first spoke about the flights to Rostov back in January 2025, but the real scandal began in the summer of that year. In July, she posted a video filmed aboard a military transport aircraft: “Who says planes don«t fly to Rostov? They do. Just not for everyone and not for everybody. Anyway, I»ve flown off to Rostov again.” The aircraft landed at Platov airport, which by that point had been closed to civilian flights for three years.

In other videos, Maria showed her three-year-old son in the cockpit — the boy was offered chips. In Rostov, the blogger strolled along the embankment and visited well-known city restaurants. It later emerged that she had also flown on military aircraft to other Russian cities.

Shalaeva concealed who arranged her flights. In her videos, she spoke of a high-ranking admirer whom she called variously “Mr. X,” “fiancé,” or “the Kremlin man.” She did not choose the cities for her trips — she flew wherever her partner was headed. The man«s face was always hidden, his name never revealed.

Maria herself commented with irony on her audience«s disbelief: “Everyone, of course, was worried about one question: how did I manage to fly there? The sky is closed, planes don»t fly, the airport isn«t working. And I»m just lying to everyone that I flew away. Just like I«m lying to everyone about the bouquets, about the story with the secret admirer.”

Military pilot and expert Vladimir Popov, in a conversation with the publication 161.RU, explained the legal side of the matter. According to him, family members of service members do have the right to travel with them on military aircraft — there is a special procedure for this, enshrined in orders and directives.

“All my life, both I myself flew and my family flew, and many did so when we were carrying out official tasks and couldn«t abandon our families,” Popov explained.

But he sharply criticized the very fact of publicly flaunting such flights. In his opinion, Shalaeva acted like a child bragging about a new toy to those who don«t have one. The expert suggested that the scandal would be followed by internal investigations and that “someone will pay for this.”

Soon after the scandal with Shalaeva, a criminal case became known. In Moscow, a service member who organized illegal transportation of civilians on military transport aircraft was arrested. The scheme worked like this: flights went from Sevastopol to Rostov, and from there — to Moscow.

A one-way flight cost 25,000–30,000 rubles ($280–$340 at current rates). The investigation classified this as bribery. According to the Sevastopol Garrison Military Court, the detainee ran the “business” with certain “other persons” — how many there were and how long the scheme had existed was not disclosed. The court placed the suspect in custody for two months. No direct link between the case of selling seats and Shalaeva«s story has been officially established, but the chronology and geography of the flights coincide suspiciously.