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Work on a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine with American and European partners, decisions on using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, expansion of Chinese business into the Russian market, Russian fakes about the situation on the front — these were the topics that viewers of FREEDOM were most interested in during December.
In December, FREEDOM content on foreign-language digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp) gathered 57.7 million* views, of which 31.3 million were on YouTube; 10.9 million — on Facebook; 9.7 million — on Telegram; 4.1 million — on TikTok FREEDOM; and 1.7 million — on TikTok FREEDOM.KAVKAZ, which became a record figure for this platform. In total, on the digital platforms of the SE “MPIU” and partners, FREEDOM content in December reached 138.1 million views (over 45 months of operation — 14.65 billion views**).
Ukraine’s diplomatic steps to establish a just peace were one of the most resonant topics last month. In particular, FREEDOM viewers closely followed the visits of the President of Ukraine to France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and the USA, during which issues were discussed regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, methods of pressuring Russia, and ways to strengthen support for Ukraine from partners. For example, materials from Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech in the Dutch parliament, in which he emphasized that Russian assets should work for Ukraine’s defense; that the Kremlin must finally understand that Russia cannot constantly bypass the rules established in the civilized world; and also stressed that it is Moscow that chooses war, not peace, were viewed more than 500 thousand times on FREEDOM platforms. On average, 87% of views of these videos came from abroad, of which 26% — from Russia, 12% — from Kazakhstan.
Overall, materials about the first meeting of Volodymyr Zelensky with Polish President Karol Nawrocki received over 450 thousand views, including more than 220 thousand times on FREEDOM and FREEDOM.LIVE for Zelenskyy’s statement at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart, saying that Ukraine knows the locations of the “Oreshnik” complex on Belarusian territory and provides this information to partners (90% of views from abroad, of which 29% — from Russia).
FREEDOM viewers also closely followed the development of the peace plan, on which Ukrainian and American delegations worked throughout December. Videos concerning the meeting of Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in Miami on December 28 were viewed nearly 800 thousand times on FREEDOM platforms. The statement by the President of Ukraine that the issue of territories cannot be resolved behind closed doors, without the consent of the Ukrainian people, received the greatest resonance — over 350 thousand views (89% of the audience from abroad, including 28.2% — from Russia). The foreign-language audience learned about exclusive details of the President’s meetings with European and American partners thanks to the work of FREEDOM correspondents Vitaliy Syzov and Oleg Borisov, as well as inclusion from the USA by Mykhailo Komadovsky.
Interest from the foreign audience was high for Volodymyr Zelensky’s Christmas and New Year greetings, in which he outlined Ukraine’s main positions regarding the end of the war. In total, these videos were viewed over 1.5 million times on FREEDOM digital platforms (90% of views from abroad, 25% of the audience — from Russia).
One of the key events of December was the decision regarding providing Ukraine with a “reparations loan.” After the European leaders’ summit, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated, the EU decided to provide Ukraine with an interest-free loan of €90 billion. As experts emphasized on FREEDOM, if Russia does not pay legal reparations for war crimes, the repayment of this loan for Ukraine will come from Russian assets (over 40% of views of these videos are from Russia).
Traditionally, the FREEDOM audience pays significant attention to truthful news from the line of combat engagement. Thus, against the backdrop of “victory” statements by the Russian army about the alleged capture of Kupiansk, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s trip to this direction received significant resonance: the video with his address, recorded practically on the front line, as well as footage of the President of Ukraine visiting the forward command post of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great, was viewed around 700 thousand times (90% of views from abroad, of which 28.8% — from Russia, 11.2% — from Kazakhstan). Over 850 thousand views were received by the commentary of military-political expert Dmytro Snegiryov about mass actions in Russia by mothers of servicemen fighting near Pokrovsk, demanding the authorities stop the “meat assaults” (16% of views from Russia). About 200 thousand views across various FREEDOM platforms were for the episode of the project “Front News,” which also covered unsuccessful “meat assaults” of the Russian army in Donetsk (about 20% of views from Russia, 10% — from Kazakhstan). At the same time, 1.4 million views on the FREEDOM.DOC platform watched footage of an occupant surrendering to Ukrainian forces literally in his underwear (40% of viewers from Russia). Interest remains high in news about effective operations of the Ukrainian Defense Forces on Russian territory.
The foreign-language audience continues to show interest in the state of the Russian economy — about 50% of the audience of the summary episode of the project “Your Money,” which covered changes in Russia’s economic situation in 2025, were viewers from Russia. The last 2025 episode of the project “Special Report” was devoted to the analysis of the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil industry facilities over the past year. The episode was viewed over 120 thousand times (12.5% viewers from Russia, 11.4% — from Kazakhstan). Viewers also paid attention to the annual “Direct Line” with Putin — FREEDOM prepared a story about what the Russian dictator actually said and what he chose to remain silent about (90% of the audience from abroad, of which 44% — from Russia, 11% — Uzbekistan). A fragment of the project “Special Report” about how China gradually conquers Russia without weapons collected 1.3 million views — in the border regions of Russia, most enterprises are headed by Chinese, leaving Russians in low-ranking positions.
In December, the YouTube channel FREEDOM.KAVKAZ received over 830 thousand views for a story with a video of 18-year-old Dagestani Said Shakhbanov, in which he tells how in the Russian army commanders demand money from soldiers so as not to send them on assaults. After this video, Said disappeared — journalists suggest he may have been killed by his own (92.7% of the video audience from abroad, 46% of viewers from Russia). Over 650 thousand views on FREEDOM.KAVKAZ were for a stream with the deputy commander of the Chechen volunteer battalion named after Sheikh Mansur within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which discussed successful drone strikes on FSB buildings in Chechnya. In total, YouTube channel FREEDOM.KAVKAZ had 7 million views in December, with the TikTok account receiving another 1.7 million.
- Overall metrics on all digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram) of SE “MPIU” and on partner platforms — Ukrainian media groups, where content is released under the FREEDOM brand. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEDOM and partner channels. Period: December 2025.
** Overall view metrics on all SE “MPIU” own digital platforms: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEDOM channels. Period: November 2025.
*** Overall view metrics on all digital platforms of SE “MPIU”: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp, and partners. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEDOM channels. Period: March 2022 — December 2025.
**** Total views of all videos on this topic on all SE “MPIU” digital platforms: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEDOM channels. Period: December 2025.
ABOUT FREEDOM
FREEDOM — a channel of Ukrainian state foreign broadcasting, targeting a Russian-speaking audience outside Ukraine. The broadcast TV channel transmits via satellite, in cable, DTH, IPTV networks of national operators, and on OTT platforms. In digital, it is present on 14 Internet platforms: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp. The FREEDOM channel is part of the state enterprise “Multimedia Platform of Ukraine Foreign Broadcasting.” SE “MPIU” is a stable, multi-level institution in the state information security system, including nine media brands — FREEDOM, “Dim,” UATV.English, UATV.Arabic, UATV.Español, The Gaze, UATV.Português, UATV.Deutsch, UATV.Türkçe — which produce and broadcast content in eight languages: Ukrainian, English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Turkish.
