The Interview No One Saw Coming

Quick Hit: May 12, 2024

This week President Maia Sandu sat down for a 2 hour long Russian language interview with Russian youtube journalist Yury Dud. The interview topics ranged widely touching on topics in Moldovan politics, the war in Ukraine and personal aspects of the President’s life. Since being posted on May 7th the interview has been watched more than 5.6 million times.

Screenshot from the interview

Who is Yury Dud?

While relatively unknown in the West, Yuri Dud is among the most popular YouTubers in Russia with more than 10 million subscribers to his channel вДудь (vDud). In his videos he interviews a wide range of celebrities, business leaders and political activists on a variety of topics. Dud has produced multiple documentaries critical of the Russian state on topics such as the Belsen School Massacre and the war in Ukraine. At the beginning of the Russian invasion he voiced his opposition to the war and left the country before he was declared a foreign agent. At the same time, Dud is clear that he identifies as Russian and is a Russian journalist.

Dud has never interviewed a head of state before and Maia Sandu has never given such a long interview in Russian to a Russian journalist. It is fair to say that everyone was surprised.

What Was Discussed?

While the interview ranged widely it did not break any new ground or cover topics that Moldovan journalists have not previously asked the President about. They discussed whether or not Ukraine offered Moldova to “solve” the Transnistria problem (no - not “officially”), why Moldova has blocked Russian TV channels (they are propaganda controlled by criminals) and what the President’s hobbies are (hiking). For anyone closely watching Moldovan politics there was little surprising information and more than one serious Moldovan journalist became somewhat offended at how much attention the interview got.

At the same time, this interview was not primarily for a domestic audience. So who was it for? The Director of the Association of Independent Press in Moldova said that this channel is watched by "healthy forces in Russia" and that it was partly an outreach to Russians opposed to the war. Andrei Cureraru of Watchdog also noted that the interview focused quite a bit on the President’s humble life. Maia Sandu never moved into the opulent Presidential residence preferring to remain living in her 2 room apartment in Chisinau. She only flies commercial (economy) and prefers to spend any free time she has hiking and enjoying nature. This may have been a driver for Dud to interview President Sandu as the release date, May 7th, also happened to be the date Putin’s 5th Presidential Inauguration. A ceremony that has become more and more reminiscent of the Tsars over the years.

The Unexpected Reaction

Whatever people thought of the interview, the topics and the fact that it happened at all, everyone in Moldova was shocked at the reactions. Youtube is not known to be a place where the comments section is particularly wholesome. I personally expected a string of horror and abuse from Russian bots and the semi-unhinged people who argue with bots. Instead, the video was flooded with comments from Ukrainians thanking Moldova for being there in their time of need. Here’s just one of many many many comments:

Even journalists skeptical of the interview wrote about how this outpouring of gratitude was beyond heartwarming. Given the reach of the interview with a local and international Russian speaking audience, and the clear positive reactions, this unexpected interview was a PR coup for the country. Moldova has amassed a significant amount of “soft power” as a Small Country with a Big Heart. It was surprising, but in retrospect not unexpected, that an interview in a language that almost all Ukrainians speak would find an audience with the many people who found Moldova a place of welcome and refuge since the terrible events of February 2022.