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I Am a Ukrainian

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A promotional still for the video

"I Am a Ukrainian" is an Internet viral video, first posted on YouTube in 2014 featuring a young Ukrainian woman supporting the protestors in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. It was filmed by Graham Mitchell. By late March that year the video had been viewed about 8 million times.

Background

The woman in the video was initially not named[1] in order to keep her safe,[2] but was eventually identified as Yulia Marushevska, a Kyiv Ph.D. student of Ukrainian literature at Taras Shevchenko National University.[3] Marushevska and British photographer Graham Mitchell shot the video after the death of five people, three of whom died of gunshot wounds, on January 22.[3][4] Marushevska felt she needed to do more for the EuroMaidan, and was frustrated with what she perceived to be the foreigners’ ignorance about why the protests were happening.[3] She wanted to inform the viewers that the Ukrainians want to change their government due to concerns over alleged unchecked corruption within it.[3][5] They ended up shooting a 2-minute, 4 second long video[5] where she speaks in English.[6] In July 2015 Mikheil Saakashvili, Governor of Odessa, announced that, after a year of training at Harvard and Stanford universities, Yulia Marushevska accepted a job as Deputy Head of the Odessa Regional State Administration.[7]

Popularity

The video was uploaded to YouTube on 10 February 2014.[3] By 19 February it was reported to have about 3.5 million views.[6] By 21 February it had about 5.2 million views,[5] by 22 February it had about 6 million views,[8] and by 27 February it passed 7 million views.[9] At 14 March the video had been viewed over 7.8 million times;[3] dropping from a peak of 800,000 to 53,000 views per day. This can be seen as evidence that the video had passed the peak of its view rate, and will now begin to decrease in significance. As of 15 May 2014, the video has 8.1 million views, and as of 23 October 2014, the video has 8.25 million views.

The video has received a mostly positive reception, with the majority of the tens of thousands of comments in support.[5][6][8] A 21 February count on YouTube gave the video about 70,000 "likes" and 4,000 "dislikes".[5] A minority of voices, primarily those opposed to the revolution, argued that it is too one-sided.[6][8] It has also been criticized for its professional production value, invoking a comparison to the controversial Kony 2012 viral video, which misled viewers into thinking it was a purely amateur production.[8][9]

BBC News has described it as having by far the greatest impact of any video from the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.[6] Moses is now working on a feature-length documentary about Yulia's and Ukraine's progress in the year following her viral video.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ André Crous, ‘We want to be free’, Prague Post, (19 February 2014).
  2. ^ Deborah Stambler (2014-02-14). "I Am a Ukrainian: Can You Be Viral and Anonymous? | Deborah Stambler". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jim Hoft, Yulia Marushevska: Ukrainian Activist’s YouTube Video Viewed 7.8 Million Times, The Gateway Pundit, (March 14, 2014).
  4. ^ "Ukrainian Woman's YouTube Video Goes Viral" Voice of America. 2014-04-01.
  5. ^ a b c d e Central New York. "Viral video 'I Am a Ukrainian' generates millions of views, many fans, some critics". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  6. ^ a b c d e BBC Trending (2014-02-20). "BBC News - #BBCtrending: 'I am a Ukrainian' protest video goes viral". BBC. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  7. ^ "Yulia Marushevska Deputy Head of the Odessa Regional State Administration" Facebook. 2015-07-09
  8. ^ a b c d "Questions Raised Over The 'I Am a Ukrainian' Video". Neon Tommy. 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  9. ^ a b "Mass protests in Ukraine: Tracking America's hand in regime change | Celebrating Being Zimbabwean". Thepatriot.co.zw. 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  10. ^ "I Am a Ukrainian: The Movie" Official Website. Retrieved on March 31, 2014.
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