A New Year’s Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Russia’s Favorite Gen Z Couple, Lisa Barashik and Sasha Teslond

A New Year’s Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Russia’s Favorite Gen Z Couple

If the talk of the town in 2025 was the Dibrovs’ divorce, then 2026 started with a bang as the love drama of Gen Z took center stage, overshadowing all other celebrity breakups. The most talked-about story of the year so far is the announcement made by popular blogger Lisa Barashik. On January 3rd, she revealed her separation from her husband, Sasha Teslond, after two years of marriage, citing infidelity as the reason.

The Beginning of the End

In her Telegram channel, Lisa shared that just days before New Year’s Eve, Sasha suddenly decided to fly from America, where they had planned to spend the holidays together, back to Moscow. His reason was a desire to “be alone.” Lisa tried to be supportive, but it was later revealed that while they exchanged loving messages in their chat, a real-life betrayal was unfolding.

“This helped me finally take off my rose-tinted glasses. Unfortunately, I can’t just say that ‘we weren’t compatible’ because that’s far from the truth,” Lisa wrote.

The Public Reaction

The news came as a shock to millions of followers who saw the couple as the epitome of a perfect relationship. Chaos ensued on Sasha’s social media, with hundreds of angry comments and even threats to his close ones. Lisa had to step in and ask her followers to stop:

“I’m genuinely scared for Sasha and his loved ones. Please stop and don’t do crazy things, at least out of respect for my feelings.”

Sasha’s Response

Eventually, Sasha broke his silence. In his blog, he published an angry address to his ex-wife, stating that he “would have preferred never to know” Lisa:

“It seems it was easier for you to destroy me than to let me go. That’s our problem; you were suffocating me, and I was struggling. But don’t worry, I will live and shine over time, if only to spite you!”

Later, Sasha gave a lengthy interview on Ksyusha Hoffman’s channel, attempting to explain his side of the story. “I came to defend myself. But my goal is not to air our dirty laundry in public, as I respect her and everything that was between us,” he explained.

The Truth Unfolds

Sasha confirmed that this was indeed the end of their relationship, not just a pause: “I told her that I couldn’t be with her anymore; I didn’t want to. This isn’t a pause. We need to be apart now. I need to be alone.” He also admitted to feeling like he had lost himself in the relationship, which had been going on since he was 16.

While Sasha didn’t deny the infidelity, he explained that he did it to detach Lisa from him: “I was a free man, and I considered myself as such. And I knew that having sex with another person could help me with that.”

The most shocking revelation was his admission of fear towards Lisa. “I will be completely honest—I am afraid of her. The main problem in our relationship was hyper-control. She would go through my phone without permission. We would talk on the phone, and Lisa would blackmail me,” Sasha claimed, although no evidence was provided to support his statements.

Lisa’s Side of the Story

After Sasha’s interview, Lisa responded with a series of videos. She claimed that Sasha had twisted the truth and omitted many details. She shared that the first red flag appeared during their family vacation in Greece. Sasha, who was dealing with depression, wrote notes with positive thoughts and dreams, sharing them with Lisa but initially forbidding her from reading other files.

When Lisa eventually saw his phone, she found declarations of love to another girl. Overwhelmed with emotions, she lied to her mother about an urgent contract and flew to Moscow, leaving her husband with her mother-in-law. The couple then sought help from a family psychologist to save their marriage and improve their relationship, but things gradually fell apart.

“I only said that he cheated on me because it’s true. He even admitted on the podcast that it was a vile act. We were together for 5 years, married for 2 (we are still not divorced). The situation in New York was the same as in Greece last summer. I didn’t know it was all over because it had happened before. He also said it was the end. I am in so much pain; you can’t even imagine how much. All he needed to do was apologize, not dig into it. I didn’t want to share any more details, but I had to because he distorted reality on the podcast. My life is also ruined. I don’t know how I will get through this. Yes, I distract myself here with friends who support me, but you can’t imagine what’s happening behind the scenes,” Lisa wrote in her blog.

From Fairytale to Nightmare

Their story began like a classic Gen Z fairytale. Elizaveta Gritchenko (Lisa’s real name) was born in Moscow into a well-off family. She started her blog at 16, quickly gaining an audience by sharing humorous videos and life stories.

Alexander Popov (Sasha Teslond) grew up in Kaliningrad in an ordinary single-parent family. His parents divorced, so he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother. He started his blog by talking about teenage problems, bullying, and insecurities, which quickly resonated with his peers.

The young couple met, of course, on social media. At that time, Sasha was already a famous blogger, and Lisa was just gaining an audience. After a long online communication, they met in Moscow and soon started dating. Despite the distance (Sasha lived in Kaliningrad and went to school), they were together. He would skip his last classes on Fridays to fly to his beloved for the weekend.

For their future, Lisa learned French when Sasha went to study in Paris. Getting a visa and moving to him turned out to be a difficult task, costing about a million rubles and several rejections. In the end, to reunite, they got married in September 2023. The marriage was based on love but also solved a practical issue—it simplified Lisa’s move to France.

The End of a Dream

The couple often quarreled but were happy despite the difficulties (financial problems, Sasha’s depression, and Lisa’s ADHD diagnosis). According to Lisa, Sasha, a man with “steel nerves,” was her main support in dealing with mental health issues.

However, life abroad turned out to be emotionally and financially challenging for Sasha. After some time, he returned to Russia, and the couple started living in Moscow again. They traveled a lot, got a dachshund named Mars, and from the outside, their life seemed perfect.

Now, the happy story followed by millions has ended in a loud scandal, mutual accusations, and pain. While some subscribers argue about who is right and who is wrong, others sadly watch the destruction of a couple that seemed so strong not long ago.