Ukraine’s newest MP, Mykola Davydiuk, has been a firm fixture on the country’s political scene for years. He was involved in creating the “Boycott the Russian Market” campaign, focused on pressuring Western firms to cut ties with Russia, and posts daily videos on YouTube aimed at breaking down the war and Ukrainian current affairs.
Racking up more than 465 million views and 870,000 subscribers on his Ukrainian-language YouTube channel, it’s an approach that has worked.
“I try to explain politics and media on a human level, like I’m speaking with my mom or my grandpa,” he told The i Paper in his central Kyiv office. He says he talks “honestly about what’s going on and what the cost of that situation could be for our state”.
Two months ago, Davydiuk became an MP for the pro-European Holos party, an opposition party in Ukraine’s parliament. With martial law in place and no elections planned, he was next in line on the party’s list after an MP resigned.
Davydiuk says his goal remains to protect his country – and to share a message about the dangers of Russian propaganda to the rest of the world.
