At the RUSSIA EXPO, RUTUBE presented the First National Phoenix Award to bloggers blocked on Western platforms
The award
from RUTUBE at the RUSSIA EXPO was given to bloggers, TV channels and content
producers who successfully revived and continued their activities on the
domestic platform. Since 2022, more than 130 Russian channels have been blocked
on YouTube.
The
ceremony was opened by Alexander Zharov, CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding, who
congratulated everyone on the 30th anniversary of Runet and noted that the
attempts of foreign video hosts to block Russian content had failed: "More
than 130 channels of individuals and legal entities were removed from
international platforms, however, all of them have been revived on the RUTUBE
platform and will be awarded with the Phoenix Award".
Alexander
Zharov emphasized that Runet continues to strengthen its positions, and cited
the words of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry
Chernyshenko that since 2019 the Runet economy has grown 3.5 times and reached
16.4 trillion rubles: "The national video hosting RUTUBE is not lagging
behind: today the daily audience of the platform is approaching seven million
people, and the monthly audience has exceeded 48 million users. Very good
technological and technical conditions are being created for the production and
distribution of content. Whether the Award will become annual depends on the
feedback from RUTUBE users. We will try to make the National Phoenix Award
truly popular".
Among other
dignitaries, Maria Zakharova, Director of the Department of Information and
Press, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, took part in
the ceremony.
"The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was the first agency to
enter all Russian domestic digital platforms with two specific tasks. The first
is to provide material to domestic and foreign audiences about Russia's foreign
policy, its position in international relations, on foreign platforms. And the
second is to strengthen our digital information sovereignty. A few years ago,
RUTUBE was rebooted and brought to a new level, so today's award is a summing
up of many years of work and, I think, also the drawing up of plans for the
future," said Maria Zakharova.
The Phoenix
statuette in different nominations was awarded to all channels that were
blocked on Western platforms and switched to RUTUBE. Among other winners were
actor, producer, director, author of the channel "Besogon TV" Nikita
Mikhalkov, the first RUTUBE blogger, writer, publicist, translator, member of
the Public Council of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation Dmitry
Puchkov, the owner of "Studio Artemy Lebedev" Artemy Lebedev, blogger
under the nickname Sanya in Florida, Channel One, TV channels NTV, REN, SPAS,
MATCH TV and others.
The first
RUTUBE-blogger Dmitry Puchkov spoke about his contribution to the development
of the national video hosting.
"It's
great that there are resources in the mother country that a young talented
blogger can lean on. While political intrigue was building, I played it safe
and switched to RUTUBE. It's good to have it. If we can't do it there, we'll do
it here. After all, everything should be our own. And from a creative point of
view, we will not hesitate. We will do even more," said Dmitry Puchkov.
Among
others, the winner of the Phoenix Award was a blogger with the largest audience
on RUTUBE - Yuri Podolyaka.
"Today, the information space is an element of national security. Unfriendly countries wanted to close our mouths, but they couldn't, because we have platforms like RUTUBE. We tell the truth, and it is the truth they are most afraid of. I am very happy that now we are basically building a new country, a new element of independence. The RUTUBE team is now developing strongly. I am sure that it will continue to develop, because without it we will have no future," said Yuri Podolyaka.
The event was hosted by TV presenters Dmitry Dibrov, Vadim Takmenev, Anna Khilkevich and war correspondent Maryana Naumova. A rich cultural program was prepared for the guests of the event, in which popular artists took part: ANNA Asti, leader of the "Smyslovye Hallucinatsii" ("Cognitive Hallucinations") band Sergei Bobunets, Stas Yarushin and "MUZLOFT BAND" and resident of "Insight People", singer Anatoly Tsoi.
The first event to be held at the Russia National Centre, which is being established by the order of President Vladimir Putin, will be the International Science Fiction Symposium and Exhibition "Inventing the Future". The symposium will take place from November 4 to 6.
Tomorrow, the International RUSSIA EXPO will conclude its work. From November 2023 to July 2024, it was visited by more than 18 million guests.
Every day, for eight months, the RUSSIA EXPO delighted guests and gave unforgettable emotions.