MOSCOW, March 5 (UPI) -- An independently made video extolling Russian imperialism, "I, Occupier," has been viewed 3 million times on YouTube.
The sophisticated propaganda video was made by Evgeny Zhurov, 29, a Russian graphics designer. It defends Russian imperialism, points out several failures of independent countries after they left the Soviet Union and criticizes a number of Western values, notably same-sex parenting. It ends with a simulated sending of the video to U.S. President Barack Obama.
The video includes a narrative voiceover, written by Aleksei Ivanov, 45, whose work Zhurov found online. "I'm a Russian occupier. It is my profession," it begins.
"Yes, I'm an occupant! And I'm tired of apologizing for it. I'm an occupant by birthright, and aggressor and a bloodthirsty monster. Be afraid! I don't need your hypocritical freedom, I don't need your rotten democracy. Everything that you call Western values is alien to me."
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Zhurov told the BBC, "Nobody paid me. A full-scale information war is being waged against Russia. I'm just taking part in the war on Russia's side. My goal is high-quality pro-Russian propaganda. I mainly did it for us (the Russian people) so that we do not forget our great history. Lots of different complexes have been imposed on us; people are trying to convince us that we are somehow inferior."
The video has received a variety of responses.
"Please stop making videos! They're shaming my homeland in front of the whole world," one comment said.
Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and currently NATO deputy secretary-general, called it "imperialism for dummies." It has been seen by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin and sent to his 493,000 Twitter followers, and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has forwarded it, as well.
One viewer commented, "I'm proud to say that I love Russia and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."
