Blogger Alexander Shtefanov rose to fame in 2023 after filming an anti-war documentary from occupied Mariupol called “Ordinary Denazification.” He was designated as a “foreign agent” and expelled from university shortly after. Despite the risk of prosecution, he stayed in Russia and would regularly debate supporters of the war. It was only in 2024, after receiving threats from pro-war activists, that he was forced to move abroad. He has since become a popular voice for young Russians interested in politics, with over 500,000 YouTube subscribers and millions of views on his documentaries about the war in eastern Ukraine that started in 2014, the Maidan Revolution and other political and historical topics. Unlike many other exiled anti-war Russian opposition figures, he argues that Crimea should remain part of Russia and that the 2014 annexation reflected the will of local residents, even though the referendum took place under Russian occupation and was not recognized internationally. He also sympathizes with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and says that Kyiv could relinquish the Donbas region to end the war, despite polls on Ukrainians’ support for the potential handover of the Donbas region in ex
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