- Daniil Orain is a YouTuber from Russia who runs the channel 1420.
- Orain’s videos focus on asking everyday questions to people in Moscow. This now also includes questions about Ukraine.
- This is Orain’s story as told to writer Stefano Montali.
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This as-told essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Daniil Orain, a Russian YouTuber. It has been edited for length and clarity.
My name is Daniel Orain. I’m a YouTuber from Russia running the channel 1420. In my videos I try to create a montage of everyday Russians and a transparent representation of what they believe.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, people from all over the world have been visiting my channel to try to understand the way Russians think.
Before I started the channel about two years ago, I had some distorted thoughts about the world
At the time, I was working as a software engineer with a three-hour commute, and my perspectives changed when I started seeing interviews with people in distant cities during those road trips. These videos showed me how people from different places and cultures think and they played a big part in my self-education.
I started to ask myself: why isn’t there something like this on YouTube, but with people from Russia like me? That’s when my friend and I created 1420.
People often ask me the story behind the channel’s name, but there’s no secret meaning. It’s just the name of the school we went to together. Our whole goal with the station was to go onto the streets of Moscow and ask people questions that interested us – things like “Do you believe in God?” or “What do you think about Americans?”
When the conflict in Ukraine started, we suddenly saw a huge increase in viewership
Our addition came from all over the world – not just Europeans and Americans who used to be our main audience. With the increase in viewership, I decided to double down and try to post videos daily.
I hired a few people to help; My team of six includes editors, translators and someone in Moscow who asks the questions. Recently we’ve been asking things like, “What do you think of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy?” “Do you want Ukraine to become part of Russia?” and “Are you feeling the sanctions now?”
In order to get enough material for a full video, we need to ask a large number of people. Given the nature of our issues at the moment, many people are reluctant to participate.
For example, when we shot the Zelenskyy video, 124 people refused to answer. Only 28 people agreed. Even if they agree, they often refrain from fully voicing their thoughts.
Creating these videos is risky, but we haven’t had any problems so far
Unlike TikTok and Instagram, access to YouTube in Russia is still normal. In the videos I always muted certain words (but kept the subtitles) to avoid censorship.
For example, one must not say “war” when referring to the situation in Ukraine. We need to say “secret operation” instead. So when someone says “war,” we mute that particular word.
Some people in the comments have accused me of being a Russian propaganda channel, so I had to find new ways to show that I’m not. For example, in a recent video, we blurred the faces and altered the voices of the people in it so they could be honest without fear of repercussion. We’ve also started showing longer, contiguous clips of the interviews so viewers don’t think we intentionally shortened them to tell a specific narrative.
Not only have I seen a change in how people view our channel since the war – there’s a change in how they view our subscribers
Not long ago, the comments on my YouTube videos said: “Russians are just like us.” But the further the situation in Ukraine progresses, the more likely they are to say: “Russians are being brainwashed.”
I’m glad people are watching the videos because I know from my own experience how helpful YouTube can be. We are fortunate to be able to learn online.
You’ll notice that in my videos there’s a pretty clear division between the answers from people who grew up in the Soviet era and the younger people. As the older generations grew up, they only got their education from books or teachers – they didn’t have access to the world like people my age. The position in which I find myself and run this channel would not have existed back then.
Today you can learn things from websites, videos and even comments
Just last week, a viewer wrote to one of my own videos, “You’re not afraid, not because you’re fearless, but because you just haven’t been afraid yet.”
That blew my mind. I know what I’m doing is risky, but maybe that’s why I’m not worried because I’ve never worried that much. But at the same time, I’m just the storyteller. Lots of people ask me for my opinion on various topics via direct messages, but I don’t answer them.
I see my role as being the person who helps tell people’s stories, and I will continue to do so to show how and what Russians feel.