Russian Deputy’s Wife Shoots Twerking Video on Highway, Sparking Mass Traffic Delays

The wife of a Moscow region deputy blocked off the middle lane of one of the capital’s busiest highways to shoot a music video over the weekend, sparking public outrage online.

Social media users in Russia erupted this week over footage of three women performing choreographed dances on the busy Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) with an SUV blocking traffic in the middle lane. Oksana Yakovleva, 29, who performs under the stage name Yaxana, said “I still have the jitters” from the dangerous performance.

“My cameraman was almost run over, it was scary,” Yakovleva wrote on her Instagram page Tuesday.

Moscow police said Friday that they had filed a traffic violation report against Yakovleva in relation to the music video shoot. Moscow City Hall’s traffic control center said the singer had held up several ambulances because of the shoot. Other videos posted online showed angry drivers honking at the dancers because of the traffic jam.

Yakovleva is reportedly married to Moscow region legislative assembly deputy Alexei Yakovlev from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.

In an interview with state-funded Channel 5 on Thursday, Yakovlev said he planned to “scold” Yakovleva once he comes back from a trip.

“I don’t need this PR. I think there are other more suitable places to film these kinds of performances,” he told the news channel.

Several Instagram videos suggest, however, that the couple regularly enjoys roadside dancing.