Youtuber "Sabbatical" detained in Russia, barely escapes with his life

[Jingthing]

One of my favorite travel youtubers because of his sardonic wit unwisely decided to tour Russia in these times.

He does not have a political agenda. He wasn't there to be a Putin toady like Moscow resident and promoter of right wing expatriation to Russia "Expat American" or a Putin critic like "NFKRZ" (long ago exiled).

He was just doing his normal schtick. Meeting and talking to people. Having a positive attitude but always with that sardonic wit.

 

Yet, something went horribly wrong.

 

Quote

Hello my friends. I apologize for disappearing for a month. Sadly, everything they warned me about Russia came true. I was detained and only just now was forced to leave the country. I’m lucky to be alive, lucky to be free and lucky to still be here with you all. I’m furious about what happened, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. I did nothing wrong, other than be an American in Russia. I’m not sure how to talk about this in a video but I will. I had a few videos from Russia edited before this happened, in happier times. Let me post those first and then we’ll skip ahead to talk about what the hell just happened.

Sabbatical - YouTube

 

Some may recall the rather notorious but very popular youtuber Bald and Bankrupt who was long ago banned from Russia for life. That was so self destructive as Bald was a passionate promoter of travel all over Russia, admiring all things from the Soviet past, and at least back then obviously had a soft spot for Putin. 

 

Planning on traveling there or moving there?

 

Before he got detained. Doing his thang. 

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Jingthing

[tai4de2]

Did he have a reason to be in Russia other than "annoy the locals while taking the unnecessary risk of being in Russia"?

Edited 2 hours ago by tai4de2

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, tai4de2 said:

Did he have a reason to be in Russia other than "annoy the locals while taking the unnecessary risk of being in Russia"?

His reason to be in Russia was I assume the reason he travels anywhere. To do his travel videos. I'm not saying they're all great, but many of them are quite good indeed. He does try to give context and background about the destinations along with the somewhat random encounters with locals. I particularly liked his videos done in Eritrea.

If you're blaming him for what the Russian government did to him, well based on what I know about him and the Russian government, I seriously doubt it was his fault. But the video he releases later about what happened will certainly be interesting.

Edited 2 hours ago by Jingthing

[stevenl]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

One of my favorite travel youtubers because of his sardonic wit unwisely decided to tour Russia in these times.

He does not have a political agenda. He wasn't there to be a Putin toady like Moscow resident and promoter of right wing expatriation to Russia "Expat American" or a Putin critic like "NFKRZ" (long ago exiled).

He was just doing his normal schtick. Meeting and talking to people. Having a positive attitude but always with that sardonic wit.

 

Yet, something went horribly wrong.

 

Sabbatical - YouTube

 

Some may recall the rather notorious but very popular youtuber Bald and Bankrupt who was long ago banned from Russia for life. That was so self destructive as Bald was a passionate promoter of travel all over Russia, admiring all things from the Soviet past, and at least back then obviously had a soft spot for Putin. 

 

Planning on traveling there or moving there?

 

Before he got detained. Doing his thang. 

 

 

Putin has a 96 or something percentage approval rating. Of course he doesn't want anything else come out.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Putin has a 96 or something percentage approval rating. Of course he doesn't want anything else come out.

I assume you posted that number in sarcasm. 

The majority of Russians do think there is no alternative to him in his fake elections because he murders any real opposition. 

I'm quite aware that many Russian people are wonderful and that there is a lot to be experienced by traveling there, but I think this is a case where Americans should listen to the state department's advice not to go there.

Edited 35 minutes ago by Jingthing