Twitch, used for streaming gaming, is one of the few Western platforms that can be used without restriction in Russia.
Until two months ago a Ukrainian Arseniy Trynozhenko33, supported himself by commenting on e-sports streaming service in Twitch.
After the Russian invasion began, he began talking on his channel mainly about the war.
Trynozhenko screens the international media for interesting news and searches the Telegram messaging service for authentic videos and photos of the war. In the morning and evening, he talks about the information he found live.
Trynozhenko has 700,000 followers in Twitch. They know him by the nickname Ceh9.
His “news reports” are viewed primarily by Russians. For them, Trynozhenko opens a different view of the horrors of war. However, many are not ready to believe it to be true.
“Russians say I’m spreading lies”
Trynozhenko became known as a professional in the tactical shooting game Counter Strike. After an active career, he has continued as an e-sports commentator in tournaments and Twitch.
He makes his content in Russian because it reaches the general public in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
When the war broke out, he could no longer focus on shooting games. Violence and killing had come too close when friends in Kiev, Kharkiv and Mariupol were in danger of death.
Trynozhenko says via video call, however, he is not afraid of war.
– I understand that anyone here can basically die in the blink of an eye, but I will continue my work and daily life.
Trynozhenko talks with his followers about the war and shares footage of the devastation caused by the Russian invasion. The broadcasts usually have about 40,000 to 50,000 viewers, and more than half of them are Russian.
The audience is critical of the content he shares.
– The Russians say I’m spreading lies. They deny that their army would kill civilians, and claim it will save us from the Nazis.
Trynozhenko’s feedback hurts.
– It is sad that my audience now feels Putin closer than me, even though they have been following me for several years.
Trynozhenko’s user account was suspended for a few days because his followers reported this shared video showing bodies. Twitch restored the license when Tyrozhenko said he accidentally appeared on the video broadcast.
Despite adversity and criticism, Trynozhenko continues to stream war news in Russian.
Twitch can be used in Russia without any restrictions
As early as the beginning of March, the Russian government restricted access to most Western Finnish platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Thus, Amazon-owned game content-focused Twitch became one of the few channels in Russia that can be used without a VPN connection.
Trynozhenko and other Ukrainian strikers publicly appealed to Twitch in early March to continue operating without restriction in Russia, and the streaming service has done so.
The petition was published as a video (switch to another service) Mykhailo Zvierievin, 28, on your Instagram account. He, too, is a Ukrainian sometime known before the attack began for streams talking about gaming and anime.
– The idea was that we could offer an alternative to the Russian state media, and show what is really going on here, Zvieriev says.
Zvieriev also runs his own “news agency” in Twitch. He, too, has made his stream in Russian mainly to the Russian public.
Zvieriev is from Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, from where he fled the war to Kiev in 2014. In February, he had to flee the war for the second time. Now he lives with his wife in Lviv.
Just recently, he changed the language at the Twitch to Ukrainian. The decision is based on frustration.
He was tired of the Followers claiming the news in the international media to be false news and calling the Ukrainians Nazi.
– It took me about a month to realize that my Russian audience already has all the facts related to the war at their fingertips. They just refuse to believe it. I don’t think I can influence Russian opinions by streaming.
Arseniy Trynozhenko, on the other hand, is more optimistic.
– If even some Russians get real information about the effects of the war through my stream, it matters. The truth spreads from mouth to mouth and has multiplier effects.
Although the audience criticizes the content of the broadcasts, the number of viewers has more than doubled during the war, and growth has come specifically from Russia.
Alternative “news” is of interest.
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