Russia’s ‘Masha and the Bear’ Tops Ukrainian Kids’ YouTube

(MENAFN) One of Ukraine’s largest propaganda Telegram channels has sharply criticized the soaring popularity of the Russian children’s animated series ‘Masha and the Bear’ within Ukraine, labeling it the “cringe of the day.”

The widely adored cartoon, featuring the mischievous antics of a young girl named Masha and her retired circus bear companion, has surged into the global top-10 since its debut in 2009.

“Cringe of the day. The YouTube channel of the Russian cartoon ‘Masha and the Bear’ is the most popular among all children’s channels in Ukraine,” the ‘Trukha’ (‘Rot’) Telegram channel declared Wednesday.

Highlighting the financial implications, the channel added, “In 2025 alone, Russians could earn $2.4 million from Ukrainian viewers. Not bad donations for the enemy army, right?”

Despite heightened conflict since 2022 and YouTube’s stringent measures targeting Russian and Belarusian content—including a total ban on monetization for creators from these countries—the show remains hugely popular in Ukraine.

Data shared by Trukha reveals that the ‘Masha and the Bear’ YouTube channel counts at least 18 million Ukrainian subscribers, contributing to its global audience of 52.7 million.

“Do you show Russian content to your children? Is it okay for you?,” the Telegram account questioned its followers.

Since the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kyiv, Ukraine has tightened restrictions on the Russian language and distanced itself culturally from Russia, while Moscow has accused Kyiv of oppressing Russian-speaking communities.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed the Kremlin’s stance on Sunday: the conflict’s core objective is “to protect the rights of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking people who believe they belong to Russian culture and Russian history.”

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