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In March, the Russian-language TV channel FREEDOM videos hit YouTube trends 10 times, increasing the number of views and the share of foreign audience. After the shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow, a video that highlighted the lack of prompt response to the event by Putin and other Russian officials and debunked Russia’s attempts to shift the blame onto Ukraine took the top spot in the Russian YouTube segment.
In addition to Russia, in March, videos of the FREEDOM TV channel were trending on YouTube in Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The number of views of FREEDOM on the Ukrainian foreign-language YouTube channels FREEDOM and FREEDOM.LIVE amounted to 82.6 million, of which 93.4% came from abroad, including 64.9% from Russia, 4.6% from Kazakhstan, and 4.1% from Uzbekistan. The top five cities are Moscow, Krasnodar, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk. The weighted average of views from abroad for the YouTube channels of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” and its partners increased to 81.9%, and views on the YouTube platforms of partner channels also increased. In March, the total number of views of content under the FREEDOM brand on various digital platforms of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” (YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, X, TikTok) and the platforms of partners amounted to 273.6 million (+116 million for the month)*.
The most popular video of March on FREEDOM’s YouTube channel was the speech of the President of Ukraine, in which Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Putin a lowlife who hid and spent a day thinking about how to link Ukraine to the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall. It received 3.9 million views, 98.1% of which were from abroad, 70.1% from Russia, 8% from Uzbekistan, 4.2% from Kazakhstan, 4.2% from Tajikistan, and 2.1% from Kyrgyzstan. The joint appeal of the RVC, the Free Russia Legion, and the Siberian Battalion to Putin calling for permission to evacuate the Belgorod region was viewed 2.6 million times, with 98.4% of views coming from abroad, 68.1% from Russia, and 9.5% from Uzbekistan. The President of Ukraine’s statement during a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Odesa about the need to increase international supplies of air defense systems to protect Ukrainians from Russian terror received 2.4 million views, 95.7% from abroad, 74.4% from Russia, 4.2% from Uzbekistan, 3% from Kazakhstan, and 1.9% from Belarus. 1.2 million views, including 94.5% from abroad, 64.6% from Russia, 4.9% from Kazakhstan, 4.1% from Belarus, and 2.6% from Uzbekistan, were received for the article detailing the attack in Crocus City Hall, which described the inaction of Russian emergency services, Putin’s silence, and various versions of the organizers of the attack. Also regarding the events in Crocus City Hall, the editorial board of FREEDOM prepared several materials focusing on the predictability and absurdity of Russian statements about Ukraine’s involvement in them, inconsistencies in the actions and statements of the Russian special services, possible involvement of the FSB in terrorist attacks, and the growth of xenophobia among Russians towards migrants.
In March, Russian-speaking viewers abroad paid high attention to materials about events at the front and Ukraine’s defense capabilities, accurate strikes on Russian refineries and military facilities in the territory of the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied Crimea; details of the RVC raid in Belgorod and Kursk regions; Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure, including a strike on the DniproHES; information on the results of the so-called “Putin’s election” and the need for the world to recognize the illegitimacy of the Russian dictator; international agenda, Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s visit to Turkey and his meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, forecasts for the upcoming trip of Chinese President Xi Jinping to France; the role of France and its leader Emmanuel Macron in helping Ukraine.
The premiere episode of the Treasures of the Nation project with Denys Pokhyla was dedicated to the tragic history of Muscovy’s colonization of Buryatia and the plundering of its cultural and natural resources. 98% of views of the episode came from abroad, 70.9% from Russia, 14.7% from Kazakhstan, 1.1% from Kyrgyzstan, and 1.1% from Mongolia. The new episode of the Decolonization project with Kyrylo Volnyi tells about the movement for the secession of five regions of the Russian Federation and the restoration of the state of Kuban-Cherkessia independent from Moscow: views from Russia – 74.7%, from Kazakhstan – 4.8%, from Georgia – 1.1%, from Germany – 1.1%, and overall views from abroad – 94.9%.
In March, Ukrainian international broadcast journalist Hennadiy Kurkin traveled to Antarctica to the Ukrainian polar station Akademik Vernadsky, where he is filming a documentary Science Warriors about Ukrainian polar explorers.
On the air and on the digital platforms of the FREEDOM TV channel, promotional videos for the collection of Sich drones for the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, adapted to the Russian-speaking audience, were broadcast, and a QR code for donations from abroad was posted. The peak of QR-code scanning was during the so-called “Putin’s election “, and almost 3000 people joined the volunteer campaign on FREEDOM sites during the 4 days of the campaign, most of whom were from Russia. Citizens of Latvia, Germany, Poland, Moldova and other countries also joined the initiative.
At the same time, in March, hackers carried out a massive DDoS attack on the digital news aggregator FREEDOM, and FREEDOM broadcasting on the Hot Bird 13G satellite was also attacked – the attackers jammed the signal and temporarily replaced the channel’s content with another.
*General indicators on all digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X) of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” and the platforms of partners – Ukrainian media groups that broadcast content under the FREEDOM brand. The data are as of 03/31/2024. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEDOM channels and partners.
