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Over the month, the total number of views of FREEДОМ content on Ukraine’s international broadcasting digital platforms increased by 32% compared to April. This was driven by strong audience attention to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sharp reaction to Russia’s missile terror against Ukraine and Russia’s blackmail of diplomatic missions in Kyiv, news about strikes by Ukraine’s Defense Forces against enemy logistics in temporarily occupied territories and effective attacks deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow and Grozny, international visits by the President of Ukraine and events surrounding Putin’s “parade of shame,” as well as the rapid development of new FREEДОМ platforms on Instagram and YouTube.
In May, FREEДОМ content on international broadcasting platforms in social networks and messengers (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp) collected 102 million* views (77.4 million in April, an increase of 32%). In particular, 43.4 million views were recorded on FREEДОМ YouTube channels**, with 85.5% coming from abroad; 20.1 million on Facebook; 6.9 million on Telegram; 12.2 million combined on FREEДОМ and FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ TikTok accounts; and 18.8 million combined on the new FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ and FREEДОМ Instagram accounts. The total number of views of FREEДОМ content on the digital platforms of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” and its partners amounted to 165.8 million for the month (15.5 billion over the entire period of operation***). During the month, the FREEДОМ mobile app for Android and iOS recorded more than 324,000 visits. The FREEДОМ website received more than 1.3 million visits in May. Reach through posts in FREEДОМ YouTube channel communities reached 10.9 million.
Last month, the highest number of views — 2.1 million — was received by a video of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s conversation with Ahmad Akhmedov, President of the World Congress of the Peoples of Dagestan, about the legacy of Imam Shamil and the struggle for independence: 95.3% of the audience came from abroad, including 46% from Russia and 5.8% from Kazakhstan. Another 4.7 million views were recorded for this video on FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ Instagram: 99.5% from abroad and 88.1% from Russia. Materials about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s diplomatic efforts to strengthen support for Ukraine among partners also showed strong international performance, particularly around the President’s visits to Romania, Armenia and Sweden, with 90–95% of views coming from abroad. Among the top cities, in addition to Moscow and St. Petersburg, were Yerevan, Minsk, Tashkent, Almaty, Dushanbe, Baku, Tbilisi and Riga. Against the backdrop of reports about a possible offensive from Belarus and the involvement of the Belarusian army in the war against Ukraine, there was also high interest in the visit to Ukraine by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: more than 620,000 views, 95.6% from abroad, including 37.3% from Russia, 8.9% from Uzbekistan, 6.9% from Kazakhstan and 6.5% from Belarus; Minsk ranked among the top five cities.
FREEДОМ’s international audience traditionally followed closely Ukrainian Defense Forces’ strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure and the aggressor’s military-industrial facilities. More than 720,000 YouTube views were recorded for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement that Putin is leading Russia to bankruptcy, that the regime’s reserve of financial stability has approached a critical point, and that every precise Ukrainian strike on oil refineries and joint Western sanctions are narrowing Russia’s room for maneuver (97% of the audience from abroad, including 50% from Russia and 5.8% from Germany). More than 720,000 views on Instagram were recorded for videos about successful drone strikes on facilities in Grozny: 98.5% of views came from abroad, including 65.1% from Russia, 12.8% from Kazakhstan and 7.7% from Uzbekistan.
Audience attention to the issue of the May 9 parade in Moscow was significant: discussions about a “silence regime” during the parade and permission for it from the President of Ukraine became one of the most resonant events of May. Altogether, this content received more than 4 million views across all FREEДОМ digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp)****. More than 710,000 views were recorded for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address in which he noted that Ukraine would respond symmetrically to any Russian attempts to disrupt the May ceasefire: 90% of views came from abroad, including 43.1% from Russia, 6.3% from Kazakhstan and 5.7% from Germany. News reports about Ukraine’s permission for Putin to hold the parade received more than 400,000 views. A feature on the historic May 1, 1941 parade in Moscow, whose honored guests included representatives of the Nazi regime, received 925,000 views on FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ Instagram: 89% from abroad, including 36.7% from Russia and 16.4% from Kazakhstan.
In May, new FREEДОМ platforms on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram developed rapidly. In particular, the newly created short-video YouTube channel FREEДОМ.ЛЕНТА НОВОСТЕЙ received 4.9 million views, nearly 1 million of which (19.4%) came from Moscow. FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ accounts on Instagram and Facebook received 17.9 million views (94.5% from abroad, 64.1% from Russia) and 15.2 million views (67% from abroad), respectively. On FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ Instagram, the most popular video in May was a report about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s meeting with Putin, which demonstrated that Yerevan would no longer submit to Moscow. The video received 5.7 million views and more than 140,000 likes; 97.9% of views came from abroad and 75.8% from Russia. There was also strong interest in materials about the possible conflict between Kadyrov and Putin (1.7 million views, 62.3% from Russia); secret prisons and persecution of political opponents in Chechnya (720,000 views, 79.6% from Russia); commemorative events honoring victims of the Circassian genocide (520,000 views, 90% from Russia); and the treachery of Kremlin policy toward the Caucasus and neighboring states (1 million views, 58% from Russia, 11.5% from Kazakhstan and 4.4% from Kyrgyzstan).
FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ YouTube channel materials received 4.1 million views in May, including 86% from abroad, 40% from Russia, 8.1% from Kazakhstan and 5.5% from Germany. More than 220,000 people watched a video about how Russia is reducing the teaching of indigenous languages and thereby erasing national identity. Another 235,000 views were recorded for the same video on Instagram (99.8% international audience, 84.7% from Russia). Videos on FREEДОМ.КАВКАЗ TikTok were viewed 5.1 million times in May (2 million in April).
In May, FREEДОМ launched a new information and analytical project, “Prison of Nations,” devoted to indigenous peoples, national republics and regions of the Russian Federation that have existed for decades under conditions of internal colonization. Viewers also saw the premiere of the documentary “I Want to Live,” produced by the State Enterprise “IBMPU,” about the unique state project of the same name that enables Russian servicemen to surrender safely and voluntarily. The full film and excerpts from it were viewed more than 260,000 times (91% of the audience from abroad, more than 40% from Russia).
- Total views across all digital platforms of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” under the FREEДОМ brand: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; FREEДОМ YouTube Studio. Period: May 2026.
** Six YouTube channels under the FREEДОМ brand: FREEДОМ: FREEДОМ, FREEДОМ.LIVE, FREEДОМ.DOC, “FREEДОМ.МНЕНИЯ”, “FREEДОМ. ЛЕНТА НОВОСТЕЙ“, “FREEДОМ. КАВКАЗ”
*** Total figures across all digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram) of the State Enterprise “IBMPU” and partner platforms carrying FREEДОМ content. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of FREEДОМ channels and partners. Period: March 10, 2022 – May 31, 2026.
**** Refers to the total number of views of videos on the designated topics across FREEДОМ digital platforms on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X and WhatsApp.
ABOUT FREEДOM
FREEДOM is a channel of Ukrainian state international broadcasting oriented toward a Russian-speaking audience outside Ukraine. The broadcast TV channel operates via satellite, in cable, DTH, IPTV networks of national operators, and on OTT platforms. In digital, it is представлен (presented) on 16 online platforms — YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp.
The FREEДOM channel is part of the state enterprise “The International Broadcasting Multimedia Platform of Ukraine” (IBMPU). IBMPU is a stable, multi-level institution in the system of the state’s information security, which includes ten media brands — FREEДOM, “Дім”, UATV.English, UATV.Arabic, UATV.Español, The Gaze, UATV.Português, UATV.Deutsch, UATV.Türkçe, UATV po polsku — which produce and broadcast content in nine languages: Ukrainian, English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, German, and Turkish.
