Ruslan Usachev (real name Ruslan Vikhlyantsev) is a Russian YouTuber, TV host, traveler, artist, and festival producer. Born on May 20, 1989, in Leningrad, USSR.
In 2016, following a joke about the Crimean peninsula on Twitter, the Security Service of Ukraine added Ruslan to the List of Persons Posing a Threat to the National Security of Ukraine, thereby barring him from entering the country.
In January 2018, he was entered into the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for anti-Ukrainian propaganda and justifying Russian aggression.
In June 2021, Usachev announced that he had left Russia for political reasons, but stressed that he did not view his departure as permanent emigration, but merely as a "break from Russia."
Ruslan Usachev's Stance on the War in Ukraine
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ruslan Usachev reacted negatively to the war on his social media platforms:
Not in this world did I plan to wake up today. What a nightmare.
Does it make any sense to buy tickets to Russia right now, if only to see someone in this difficult time?
Or will the next step toward the country's greatness and security be an iron curtain so that nobody escapes this brave new world?
The YouTuber also posted a black square on Instagram captioned "НЕТ ВОЙНЕ. NO WAR". Over time, this post was deleted.
On February 27, 2022, the blogger published a post that numerous media outlets interpreted as a call for anti-war demonstrations:
Tell me, do I understand correctly that rallies against the 'special operation' in Russia are officially dispersed due to covid and threats to normal, safe urban life? As though something completely different isn't threatening normal, safe life right now...
In his subsequent episodes on the "Usachev Show" YouTube channel, Usachev regularly covered war-related developments, including Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian cities, the atrocities in Bucha, and propaganda in Russian state schools and television.
However, by the spring of 2022, the blogger returned to Russia and launched the "ClickClack Show" on federal television channel STS. The channel is controlled by the "National Media Group" — a holding company associated with Putin's close ally Yury Kovalchuk and Alina Kabaeva.
Overall, while Ruslan Usachev condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, his professional ventures inside Russia and collaboration with state-affiliated media trigger controversial and mixed reactions.
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