Documenting the global footprint of Russian civilization  ·  1,081 profiles · 48 countries  · About this project
Vol. I · 2026
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Tier A
Writers & Intellectuals · Germany ·

Yuri Dud

Юрий Дудь

Russia's most-watched interviewer — his YouTube documentaries on the Gulag and Soviet history reached tens of millions

🇩🇪 Fame: Germany🇷🇺 Origin: 🔗 Connection: Lived under Russian or Soviet rule
YD
Profile #281
ProfessionJournalist/YouTuber
Russian originGermany
ConnectionLived under Russian or Soviet rulePotsdam/Moscow
RussianUnknown
CategoryWriters & IntellectualsTier A
Biography

Yuri Dud — journalist/youtuber with roots in the Russian Empire

Yuri Dud is a Russian journalist and YouTube personality who built Russia's most-watched interview channel — vDud — and created landmark documentary films on the Gulag, the Kolyma camps, HIV in Russia, and Beslan. He now lives in Germany after leaving Russia following the 2022 invasion.

Russian Connection

Tracing the roots — Germany

Born in Vidnoye (Moscow Oblast) in 1986, Dud transformed Russian-language journalism through his YouTube channel — interviewing politicians, artists, and ordinary Russians with a directness no television channel permitted. His documentary on Kolyma (2019) — watched by 22 million people — was one of the most significant acts of Russian historical reckoning in years.

Family Tree
Subject
Yuri Dud🇩🇪 Germany
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Ancestors
Potsdam/Moscow
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Origin
Germany🇷🇺
Key Achievements

A career defined by ambition

01
vDud YouTube channel — tens of millions of subscribers
02
Kolyma (2019) — documentary on Soviet Gulag camps, 22 million views
03
Beslan documentary — watched by millions
04
HIV in Russia documentary — public health impact
05
Left Russia after 2022 — continues journalism from Germany
Russian diasporaborn in Russia/USSR
Sources