On Twitch, the channel “russiangas1” opened on September 11th: An apparently Russian troll showed how cheap gas is in Russia and wasted it with glee. However, after a stream lasting 95 hours, Twitch apparently thought it was too ridiculous: The channel was banned.
These are the channel’s numbers:
- The channel “russiangas1” opened on September 11th on Twitch and broadcasted for the first 3 days practically without viewers.
- From September 16th, the channel was discovered by some viewers: on September 17th, it really took off. This stream lasted 94.5 hours, started going viral, and ended on the morning of September 21st, apparently with a Twitch ban.
- Overall, the channel was on air for 131 hours – at its peak, it reached 2595 viewers.
This is what was seen on the channel: As the site Vice.com reports, a Twitch user claiming to be Russian showed how a gas stove runs endlessly and simply burns gas.
In a screenshot, the headline “From Russia with Love” and “1.44 Euros/month” can be seen. Apparently, it was meant to say: It costs him only 1.44 euros a month to keep the gas burner running all the time.
We dealt with how expensive it is, to run a console at the current electricity prices.
Apparently, the Twitch stream was meant as a provocation to show how cheap gas is in Russia: Due to the Ukraine war and a reduction in gas supply as a political pressure tool against economic sanctions from the West, gas has become expensive in Germany and Europe – leading to a societal debate in Germany: Electricity and gas prices are rising, and the economy is perceived as endangered.
Apparently, the troll wanted to send a kind of “This is what you get” into the world with the action.
Streamer collected donations for oven matching the gas burner
This is how the stream is described: The site Vice.com says: In the stream, there was a message in Russian: People should be nice to each other. However, in the lower left corner, there was an image of a laughing person.
The avatar of the Twitch streamer was an orc – a popular Ukrainian insult for Russians.
It is said that the streamer also collected donations to buy an oven that matches the gas burner.
– Ukraine Live Blog (via Zeit)
– War in Ukraine (via nzz)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via foreign-office)
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As vice.com reports, the link to the channel was shared in Telegram groups. The channel is said to be full of “pro-Russian” messages.
But it could be that the Vice article was the channel’s downfall, as the channel was apparently banned shortly after the article was published.
We have repeatedly dealt with the effects of the war in Ukraine on MeinMMO:
Sisters stream on Twitch from Ukraine – Interrupted by bombs
