Russia shares bizarre tourism video convincing people to move there

The unusual video urged people to move to Russia for its culture and economy. Photo / Twitter

Russia has released a video that invites people to move there, whilst also mocking the sanctions placed on it by western countries.

On Friday, the Russian embassy in Spain shared a video called 'Time to move to Russia' on their verified Twitter account.

The bizarre 53-second clip uses a collection of stock footage of the country combined with an unnerving voice-over that appears to joke about its sanctions.

Russia's unusual video invites people to move there for its "delicious cuisine, beautiful women and cheap gas". Other enticing factors included ballet, cheap taxi, traditional values and vodka.

To top it off, there is no "cancel culture" in Russia, the English voice-over said, in almost a cliche Russian accent.

In an unavoidable dig, it also claims the country has a "strong economy that can withstand thousands of sanctions".

Just under a minute long, the video ends by urging people to move there.

"Time to move to Russia. Don't delay, winter is coming."

Time to move to Russia 🤍💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/4CZL1Nt4Gi

— Rusia en España (@EmbajadaRusaES) July 29, 2022

A few days after posting, the video has amassed millions of views and thousands of comments from people.

Some saw the video as so absurd it was comical.

"Really funny. Appreciate the dark humor," one user commented on Facebook.

"I'm going to send this video to Europe and their western friends," wrote another.

However, others were angry at how it mocked the global sanctions, which were a consequence of the Ukraine invasion.

"I was really waiting for the part where they would say this is russia- the country which can attack in the middle of the night, kill 1000s innocent Ukrainian and made millions homeless overnight," wrote one viewer on Facebook.

State-controlled Telegram channels won’t stop bragging about this video. Not sure who is the creator. But wow, just watch it. If the Russians didn’t promote it, I’d think this was a satire. Why do they think this could attract foreigners to move to Russia? “Winter is coming.” pic.twitter.com/xSvK5utxF9

— Fatima Tlis (@fatimatlis) July 28, 2022

Washington reporter Fatima Tlis shared the video on Twitter, with the caption: "State-controlled Telegram channels won't stop bragging about this video. Not sure who is the creator.

"But wow, just watch it. If the Russians didn't promote it, I'd think this was a satire. Why do they think this could attract foreigners to move to Russia? 'Winter is coming."

Tlis wrote that, aside from the little girls' features, the creepiest thing was the patriotic tone.

"Every single passage fits into Russian propaganda: starting from "Ukrainian Soviet Republic, to direct Putin quote of 'no cancel culture' to 'withstand 1,000 sanctions' and claiming writer and a singer as Russians."

@judithbogner commented below: "Is this for real? or satire?"

@AlexKokcharov added: "This looks so terrible I have no words. Do they think this video will entice foreigners to move to Russia? Really?"