Today at 21:03
In May, the team of Ukrainian foreign broadcasting updated the format of presenting news and informational-analytical projects on the YouTube channels UATV and The Gaze. Video and text content in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic languages on all digital platforms of UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze (YouTube, Facebook, X, WhatsApp, web) gathered 21.9 million views*, of which 10 million** — on YouTube; the share of YouTube views from abroad amounted to 99.6%.
Despite two devastating missile attacks by the RF army on foreign broadcasting channels in February and April, which destroyed part of the production facilities and studios, in May the state enterprise “Multimedia Platform of Foreign Broadcasting of Ukraine” updated the format of news releases on the YouTube channels UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze.
From now on, on weekdays, informational summaries of the day are released on all platforms: on UATV.English — News Pulse with Henry Keen, on UATV.Español — Noticias Diarias with Javier Donoso and new host Anita Morgun; on UATV.Português — Notícias da Ucrânia with new hosts Dina Chetvertak and Lada Filatova; on UATV.Arabic — “News of Ukraine” (أخبار الأوكرانية); on The Gaze — News Digest with Maria Didkovska.
“We are actively transforming the work of our digital platforms in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic languages, strengthening convergence between editorial teams, changed the format of presenting news, launching new projects and very actively searching for new faces for them both among natives (native speakers — ed.) and among our compatriots who are fluent in these languages.
We are working on scaling content distribution channels. In April, we launched TikTok and Instagram for The Gaze, in May — X (Twitter) for UATV in Arabic, Facebook for UATV.Português. We plan to launch X in Spanish and Portuguese.
Our platforms have different target audiences in very different countries, and for the team of Ukrainian foreign broadcasting, constant communication with these audiences, feedback from viewers, building a strong community loyal to Ukraine is extremely important.
Therefore, we pay significant attention not only to social networks but also to thorough work with the community on YouTube. There we distribute current videos, prepare separate informational posts, constantly conduct various surveys that allow involving foreigners in discussing important socio-political events from a Ukrainian point of view,” — comments Vadym Lubchak, Deputy General Director of SE “MPFU” for development of digital products and digital platforms.
In May on the UATV.English channel, the analytical weekly Weekly Wrap-Up updated its format, to whose team, alongside Henry Keen, joined invited hosts Philip Ittner and Jared Goyette. The guest of the project was Kurt Volker.
The analytical project Wrap-up Analytics with Henry Keen was launched. The first episodes were dedicated to discussion of Ukrainian drones’ capability to break through Russian air defense, demonstrated on the eve of the May 9 parade in Moscow, Putin’s use of the Allied victory over Nazism for his own propaganda purposes, the results of negotiations in Istanbul and Russia’s outright demonstration of unwillingness to stop the war.
Their thoughts were shared with the foreign audience by British security expert Edward Lucas, retired British Army officer Glen Grant, analyst of the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies Andreas Umland, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO) Richard Shirreff.
Also since May, the project Explainer with Iryna Yusupova has been released in English adaptation on UATV.English, each episode of which is dedicated to analyzing individual events, trends, and phenomena important for Ukraine and the world.
For example, proof that Russia is preparing for war with NATO; Trump’s tariff initiatives; Putin’s indifference to human losses of the RF army; results of presidential elections in Poland; mechanisms that can force Putin to be held accountable for crimes committed, etc.
On UATV.Português in May, the author’s project of Brazilian blogger and journalist Débora Cedor UATV EXPLICA was launched, in which she debunks Kremlin myths about Ukraine, exposes the genocidal nature of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the generally expansionist nature of RF’s foreign policy. The first episode of the project was dedicated to how Russia for centuries tried to destroy Ukraine and denied the very existence of Ukrainians.
On UATV.Português in Portuguese adaptation and on UATV.Arabic in Arabic adaptation, the project of the FREEДОМ channel team Special Report (Reportagem Especial and تقرير خاص) began to be released. Viewers saw Olga Mykhailyuk’s episode about the need for punishment and tribunal for Putin and Kseniia Barvinenko’s episode about Russia’s fake diplomacy in relations with the USA.
In total, in May, video and text content in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic languages on all digital platforms UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze (YouTube, Facebook, X, WhatsApp, web) gathered 21.9 million views, of which 10 million — on YouTube, 11.9 million — views on the channels’ pages in social networks Facebook, TikTok, X. The share of YouTube views from abroad was 99.6%. The total number of YouTube subscribers increased to 890 thousand (+45 thousand in a month).
The YouTube channel UATV.English received 5 million views in May, the highest percentage traditionally from the USA — 34.2% (compared to April, the figure increased by 2.4 p.p.), the UK — 9.8%, and Canada — 8.3%.
Similarly, there was high reach to the target audience in May for The Gaze YouTube channel: USA — 29%, UK — 10.9%, Canada — 8.1%. On UATV.Español, YouTube views reached 2.5 million, with the highest figures also from the USA — 15%, showing interest of the Spanish-speaking US audience in events in Ukraine. The top 5 countries also included Spain — 8.7%, Mexico — 8.6%, Chile — 8.2%, Colombia — 7.3%. On UATV.Arabic in May, 99.9% of YouTube views were from abroad: 15.3% from Algeria, 11.8% from Morocco, 10.3% from Saudi Arabia, 9.3% from Iraq, 5.7% from Egypt.
Last month was record-breaking for the recently created channel UATV.Português, whose number of views increased to 1.3 million (from 103 thousand in April), 99.8% of the audience from abroad. The highest views — 76.8% — were from Brazil, 7.4% — from Portugal, and 4.2% — from Angola. The channel broadcasts in Brazilian Portuguese and targets, above all, an audience in countries where Russian propaganda is actively operating. The high percentage of views specifically from Brazil shows that the content of UATV.Português is hitting the priority target audience and also indicates demand among the people of this country for objective information about Ukrainian events and about the war Russia is waging against Ukraine.
High attention of viewers to Ukrainian foreign broadcasting in May 2025 was drawn to statements of the President of Ukraine, news about successful operations of the Defense Forces, information about consequences of Russia’s war crimes.
On the UATV.English channel, over 220 thousand views were gained by the statement of Volodymyr Zelenskyy about readiness for direct negotiations with Putin; over 260 thousand times was watched a story about the destruction in Kursk region of a secret “Zaslon” radar installation, 225 thousand — the Front News project episode about how Ukrainian drones destroy Russia’s strategic factories and attack Crimea. That episode gathered 79 thousand views on The Gaze channel.
The most popular video on UATV.Español in May was an episode of Noticias Diarias, which talked about a successful attack by Ukrainian UAVs on military facilities in the Moscow region (95 thousand views). The leader by views on UATV.Português was a news episode of Notícias da Ucrânia, which, in particular, told about the defeat of aggressor’s military facilities in temporarily occupied Crimea, and the presentation of the new reconnaissance drone Batyar-S (130 thousand views).
In May, the foreign broadcasting team strengthened work with the community of UATV and The Gaze channels on YouTube, which strengthens the pro-Ukrainian community of these digital platforms.
The total reach of posts published in the communities of the YouTube channels UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze in May amounted to 8.4 million, of which 6.1 million — on UATV.English, 1.2 million — on UATV.Español.
Along with video and informational posts, high interest and engagement of the YouTube community in May were caused by such surveys as:
- is Putin really ready for negotiations about ceasefire;
- why RF is increasing the number of attacks on Ukraine;
- are negotiations between Ukraine and RF mediated by the Vatican realistic.
Among the nearest development plans for UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze — the launch of several new projects, scaling content distribution channels about Ukraine in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic through social networks and cooperation with partners.
* General view indicators of all videos and text materials on all digital platforms of UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, WhatsApp. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of the channels. Period: May 2025.
** The sum of video view indicators and the number of subscribers on the YouTube channels UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze. Data sources: analytical tools of digital platforms; Google Analytics; YouTube Studio of the channels. Period: May 2025.
*** Indicators of post reach in the community of the YouTube channels UATV.English, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, UATV.Arabic and The Gaze. Data source: YouTube Studio of the channels. Period: May 2025.
For reference
UATV.English, UATV.Arabic, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, The Gaze — media brands of Ukrainian state foreign broadcasting, which work to strengthen the voice of Ukraine in the world, produce and distribute relevant content about Ukraine in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese languages.
They focus on audiences in different countries in order to form a positive image of Ukraine, spread the truth and destroy the myths of hostile propaganda about our country and its struggle.
UATV.English, UATV.Arabic, UATV.Español, UATV.Português, The Gaze are represented on 5 YouTube channels, 2 web platforms and 12 platforms in social networks and messengers: Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, Instagram, WhatsApp. They are part of the state enterprise “Multimedia Platform of Foreign Broadcasting of Ukraine,” which also includes the Ukrainian-language channel “Dim” for Ukrainian refugees abroad and internally displaced persons, and the FREEДОМ channel, oriented toward a Russian-speaking audience outside of Ukraine.
