Russian State TV Showcases Former U.S. Marine Who Swapped LA for Siberia
A former U.S. marine has appeared on a Russian state media broadcast to discuss why he emigrated from California to Siberia.
Daniel Castellon, speaking to Russian state media host Alexander Smol, said the move was inspired by him having "fought a war in a very hot place," according to a clip posted to Twitter on Saturday by journalist Julia Davis, who runs the Russian Media Monitor project.
Responding to the host's questions in English, Castellon said Siberia's weather was part of the attraction, adding: "It's very cold here and I can enjoy it."
Russian state media has played a prominent role in consolidating Moscow's narrative around the ongoing war in Ukraine. Previous state media broadcasts have framed the war not just as a conflict against Kyiv, but against Ukraine's backers, including the U.S.
According to the state media broadcast, Castellon moved from Los Angeles to the remote Siberian town of Slyudyanka, situated on Russia's Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk region. He is introduced by the host in the context of Western sanctions leveled against Russia's economy as a response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
At one point in the video, Smol asked Castellon if U.S. citizens were feeling the impact of any "crisis" or economic struggle. The translation of the Russian-dubbed subtitles appears to show Castellon's response as one criticizing the price of gas in the U.S., although this does not clearly match Castellon's original answer in English.
Castellon then said he had married a local resident of the town, and before moving, he only knew that Russia as a big country with large cities. He told the assembled state media panel that he had not traveled to Russia with an American pension, but had been living off savings.
"Right now, I'm very happy on the shores of Lake Baikal," he said, adding that gaining Russian citizenship would be a possibility, if it is "open" to him.
Meanwhile in Russia: state TV is featuring Daniel Castellon, who moved from California to Siberia, to demonstrate that the US sanctions are not working — asserting that everything is great in Russia, but gas prices are way too high in the United States.https://t.co/94MppOuyEb
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 15, 2023
Russian state media has previously showcased a man claiming to be a former U.S. soldier who defected to Russia after fighting on Kyiv's behalf in Ukraine.
State broadcasts reflect the Kremlin's justification for the war in Ukraine, referring to the invasion as a "special military operation."
Russian state media host and propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov, has repeatedly framed the conflict as a "holy war" and echoed Moscow's official line of the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine.
As full-scale war broke out on February 24, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that "Ukraine should be liberated, cleaned from neo-Nazis, from people sharing pro-Nazi sentiment and ideas," according to a state news readout.
This assertion has been rejected by Ukraine and the international community.
