Russia: Homeless Moscow video blogger finds fame

Yevgeny Yakut is hoping his videos will attract advertisers - and their roubles

A homeless man is fast becoming an internet sensation with his video blog of life on the streets of Moscow, it's reported.

Yevgeny Yakut moved to the Russian capital in search of a better life, but soon found himself one of the many homeless people in a city known for its housing shortage and high cost of living. But he thinks he's found a way out. "I was warming myself in a railway station, when I saw a television report on bloggers making money through advertising," he tells the TV channel Moscow 360. A young passer-by got chatting to him about the idea, and agreed to be Mr Yakut's cameraman, using a smartphone to record his friend's wittily stoic accounts of the daily struggle to "find food, a place to sleep, and keep out of the way of the police".

They upload the regular reports to YouTube, where Mr Yakut is hoping to attract enough subscribers to interest advertisers in his channel. So far, the pair have racked up more than 18,000 subscribers - around half of those since Russian media began reporting his story on Monday - and more than 450,000 video views.

Mr Yakut shows viewers how he deals with everyday life without a home in central Moscow

In one video Mr Yakut points out free shuttle bus services that he, and others in his position, can use to get around. He also shows viewers the best place he has found to wash and shave - a modern shopping centre bathroom - and how to make use of the items other Muscovites have discarded in the city's bins.

The popularity of the pair's YouTube channel has impressed video-marketer Kirill Kalashnikov, who tells Moscow 360 that with some professional help, "this could be turned into a million subscribers within a year". In the meantime, Mr Yakut says supporters can make donations via a Moscow drainpipe, where he hides his cache of dollars in a deposit box fashioned from a soft-drink bottle.

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