As the war in Ukraine continues, some local Twitch stars remain online. They show their brutal everyday life in videos and images, mainly to their Russian audience. However, one of them had to flee and shares his experiences.
Despite the war, many Twitch streamers in Ukraine are still active. Vlad “lomaka” Lomakin was one of them before he had to flee with his family.
In an interview with Motherboard, the Ukrainian provided insights into his daily life as a Twitch streamer before his escape and how his colleagues are trying to enlighten Russian viewers.
Before his flight, Lomakin also shared videos and images from the war. He had around 93,000 subscribers, mostly believed to live in Russia. This gave them insights that they would not have seen due to local censorship.
Viewers react very positively – “Some people came and apologized”
Lomakin lived in Kharkiv, in Eastern Ukraine. The city has been under heavy bombardment by the Russian military for weeks, which is also mustering troops in the region. Therefore, he left the city and fled to his family in Dnipro, further west in Ukraine.
His pictures and videos until then documented the destruction of the city, which many now call a ruin. His young Russian viewers were very supportive.
These are the experiences of the streamer: According to Lomakin, most of his Russian viewers reacted in solidarity with the Ukrainians. The feedback has been predominantly empathetic.
“Luckily, my followers understand everything. They clearly see that this is a war, that civilians are dying, and many are forced to leave their homes. […] Many people in the chat apologized for the actions of their president [Putin, ed. note], even though they did not vote for him.
vice.com
The streamer believes that the Russian government has overlooked a gap with Twitch. While most social media in Russia have been taken offline, the streaming platform is still accessible without tools like VPNs.
YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are just some examples of social networks that have been blocked in Russia.
The Twitch gap gives Ukrainian streamers the opportunity to convey the Ukrainian perspective and the consequences of the war to their Russian followers.
He and other streamers also published a video asking Twitch not to withdraw from Russia. Many Western companies have also withdrawn from the country without Russian prompting.
Through Twitch, there is a way to inform the young Russian audience about events outside their country without censorship or filtering by the Russian government.
– Ukraine live blog (via Zeit)
– War in Ukraine: Belarusian troops reportedly invaded Ukraine (via nzz)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via auswärtiges-amt)
Important notice: If you are troubled by dark thoughts due to the current situation: You are not alone. Please seek help. For example, at the telephone counseling service at 0800/111 0 111 or the online counseling, where you can also use a chat. This is free and applies nationwide.
According to Vice, Ukrainian streamers have gained many additional followers since the beginning of the war. Most of them are reportedly Russian-speaking viewers.
Although more and more streamers have to go offline due to the war, the remaining ones stay active and continue. But not all Russian followers react positively to the accounts of the Ukrainian streamers.
At least that’s what Twitch streamer, former CS:GO champion, and Russian-speaking e-sports commentator ceh9 says: “That’s why the situation pains me. Many streamers from Ukraine cannot understand why their viewers from Russia don’t believe that planes are bombing their hometowns.”
ceh9 currently lives in Lviv. He was recently banned on Twitch for showing dead bodies in a stream, and someone reported it. His account was reinstated after he apologized, as it was an accident. He has around 700,000 followers.
Many now fear that Twitch could also be blocked in Russia soon.
Sisters are streaming on Twitch from Ukraine – Interrupted by bombs
