Draft:Denys Davydov

Denys Davydov (Денис Давидов) is a Ukrainian citizen journalist who operates primarily on YouTube and Telegram, and is best known for his coverage and analysis of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His YouTube channel currently has over half a million followers, which became the most followed channel run by an individual covering the war in Ukraine in March 2023.

Pre 2022
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Davydov was a commercial pilot for the Ukrainian airlines SkyUp and Ukraine International Airlines. As a pilot, Davydov flew Boeing 737, and earlier ATR 42 and 72, airplanes. It was during this time he started his first YouTube channel called "Pilot Blog", which focused on aviation and showcased his pilot perspective of flying planes. The Pilot Blog channel was hacked after he used public Wi-Fi on an unspecified date, which resulted in his videos being deleted by hackers who requested bitcoin as payment for their return. Refusing, Denys Davydov started another channel in 2014 with the same name as him, which is what he uses today.

After 29 March 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Davydov became unemployed after a stop in global air traffic was put in place to slow the spread of the disease. Davydov continued to practice flying procedure in this time through the use of a Boeing 737 simulator on his computer so he could return to his job as a pilot when the lockdown permitted.

2022–present
At the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Davydov stayed with his family in Ukraine in an undisclosed small village around six to seven hours away from Kyiv by car. He cited a lack of any prior military experience for not joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of the war, but noted that if the Ukrainian Air Force was in need of pilots in the future he would join after military training. He began to support Ukraine instead as a citizen journalist, providing analysis of the war on his Telegram and YouTube channels. In the form of near-daily updates since; Davydov has covered all major and many other events that have come from the Russian invasion, which he sources using statements, reports, and geolocated footage from Ukrainian and Russian officials. Donations collected by Davydov were also split 50/50 between charities supporting Ukraine and money for his family.

Around January 2023, Davydov left Ukraine with his family and moved to Switzerland, citing security concerns with remaining where they were. He also became more active on his Telegram channel, citing less censorship of content and no ads, but remained posting on YouTube because of the wider and more global audience it gathers. In the lead-up to the 2024 United States presidential election, Davydov has criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for his stance on loaning future aid and military equipment to Ukraine, as opposed to gifting it, and other off-remarks about his foreign policy. After the end of the war, Davydov has expressed his desire to return to being a pilot.

Information and commentary from Davydov has been used by the American-based press Daily Kos  the English-language Ukrainian press Kyiv Post,  the American newspaper The Hill, and the Australian-based press Independent Australia.

Personal life
Davydov was born on 27 February 1987 in Crimea in the city of Sevastopol, where he was baptised at the St. Nicholas Church, Sevastopol. After taking a MyHeritage DNA test, his results suggested his ancestry was 50.4% Baltic, 33.2% Eastern European, 8.3% Scandinavian, 6.5% Balkan, 1.5% Greek and South Italian, and 0.1% other. He also lived for a time in Cherkasy.

He is married and has one daughter. English is not his first language.