Ukrainian cultural and artistic Youtube channels during the first year of the war of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

Introductions. The destruction of Ukrainian culture is a key element of Russian aggression. Falsification of Ukrainian history is a common tactic of the Russian Federation in its efforts to undermine Ukraine’s independence, as it seeks to deny the existence of Ukrainian identity and delegitimize its right to statehood, language, and culture. Therefore, the role of cultural content in Ukraine during a full-scale war is indeed of strategic importance. The aim of study. The purpose of the study is to analyze the transformations in the work of Ukrainian YouTube channels covering culture, art, and history after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Among the tasks of the research: to identify changes in the content of Ukrainian-language YouTube channels on cultural and artistic topics after February 24, 2022, to track how the indicators of the number of views and the number of subscribers on the selected YouTube channel changed during the research period. Methodology. The main method is content analysis. All videos on the 10 YouTube channels, published after February 24, 2022 - the date of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and up to and including February 24, 2023 - were processed. Using the quantitative method, on the last day of each month, the indicators of the number of subscribers and views of each of the ten analyzed channels were recorded. Results and conclusions. Content analysis of 10 Youtube channels showed that their authors adapted the content to the realities of wartime. In addition, the results of the increase in the number of subscribers and views of each channel, the audience showed the need of society for such content. During the year of the war, authors of Youtube channels created hundreds of hours of content to combat propaganda narratives, fakes, oppose Russian aggression through culture in the world, and popularize the heritage of Ukrainian artists and cultural figures.