Dan Hardoon

3000 is very respectable but there are obviously now people westerners in russia some of them have very big followings and i just wondered what you make of the wider youtube community these russia content creators it is hit or miss obviously like any community

But I do think there are some people with some kind of agenda that they want to push.

I don't personally like that.

I think there's some wrong incentives in there with some people.

I asked Ben what he means by this.

He doesn't want to name names, but feels that some YouTubers might be incentivised, he doesn't say by whom, to promote a certain image of Russia.

I have been talking to some other of these YouTubers of people that live in Russia, and

And they have been approached and they've been quite open telling me about that.

They get the travel paid for to these places and showing off something that they want them to show off, but it's not even exactly you film this and we'll pay you money for it.

It's more a roundabout way until you kind of get into that ecosystem and then eventually it ends up where you might be told exactly what they want you to film.

And if someone came to you and said, Ben, there's a lot of money sitting on the table here, can you make a video?

But we want to shape the narrative a bit.

What would you say?

I don't know if I can say something about telling them to bog off.

It's been almost two years since Russia's shared values visa was introduced.

So has it been a success?

It's certainly made it easier for some Westerners to build new lives in the country, whether for love, faith or a change of direction.

But a bigger wave of anti-woke immigration has not materialised.

And those seeking some kind of conservative utopia in Russia may find that the reality is quite different from the dream.

You've been listening to The Documentary with me, Dan Hardoon.