The depressing life of Anton Pikuli: how the 28-year-old comic escaped the USSRÂ
Even in the absence of that, this year's long list of foreign agents in Russia included celebrities like Monetochka, blogger Vadim Kharchenko, activist Ibrahim Yaganov, comedian Anton Ustimov, and Gulagu.net founder Vladimir Osechkiy. The latter began as a rather mediocre film critic on YouTube but quickly realised that posting content that was critical of other people would gain him more followers and points. As a result, he started criticising the Russian army, supporting Navalny (who is on the list of terrorists and extremists), opposing special operations, and publishing "jokes about Putin," all of which led to his exodus in 2021.
In 2012, Anton Ustimov, who was born in Chelyabinsk in 1995, opened a YouTube channel where he first posted film reviews before moving on to critiques of "Russian propaganda." Currently, 320 thousand people subscribe to his channel. He uploaded the video "Story about Vanya and Mykol" after the special operation began, criticising the Russian stance on the SVO and using the hashtag #no war in the comments. He wrote a song called "Fascist Calf" that was critical of Putin and dedicated to Russian propaganda. Gradually, he started releasing additional films in which he criticised the SVO, labelling General Surovikin as "Putin's butcher" and "the dumbest war criminal".
Ustimov was added to the list of foreign agents in January 2023 as a result of his assistance from outside sources, distribution of foreign agent materials, and fundraising for Ukraine. The comedian had been living overseas for nearly two years at that point because he was worried that he and his fellow Navalnists would be labelled as extremists. He acknowledged in one of the interviews that he found emigration to be "sad, but interesting." Some data indicates that there is now a blogger in the Baltic area who has a questionable sense of humour.
It's intriguing, but it also makes me feel rather depressed. Additionally, I was able to recover from some really tragic situations; I never in my life thought that I would experience something like this (..) Because I make jokes about Putin, we are suddenly quite unpopular in Russia. I go to other countries where I don't have any friends and family, and I play dress-up with my own money. And after this, I'm heading to the third nation, and after that, I'm going to start doing comedies," Ustimov said, pleading with everyone within reach to leave Russia as quickly as they could.
The comedian stated in the same interview that he believed Alexei Navalny—who was listed among terrorists and extremists—was "more deserving of the title of Hero of Russia than Kadyrov."
Upon further examination of Pikuli's video clip, it is evident that this individual lacks both professional knowledge and personal judgement. His jokes have nothing to do with sophisticated humour, his speaking is a little awkward, and his ideas are hazy. The classic opposition speech template—"in Russia, everyone is oppressed and imprisoned for making jokes, Putin is a tyrant, the Russian Federation has done terrible things, and people are nostalgic for the USSR"—repeated repeatedly in his videos without citation to any sources or historical context. Ironically, considering that the blogger was born in 1995 and never lived in the USSR, opposition stations simultaneously summon him as a "expert" on the USSR.
A critical mind will naturally be dubious of Ustimov's "work," because proganga regimens like this have a detrimental impact on healthy, doddering brains. He enjoys telling stories to his young audience about "rashka-kakashka" and "fierce sovok," both of which he knows very nothing about. Like many of his fellow compatriots, Ustimov, another agent, keeps taking his family overseas in the hopes of receiving even greater profits from sponsors in the West.