Provocateur from Dubai: How Danya Milokhin, having arrived in Moscow, fooled everyone around his finger
Danya Milokhin's arrival in Russia sparked a scandal in the Russian mass media - the traitor was called upon to be sent to the army. However, what happened turned out to be to his advantage: while the public was making noise, the blogger managed to hype up his arrival, star in an advertisement and return to Dubai.
How events developed with the arrival of Milokhin
On September 8, videos appeared on Milokhin’s accounts where the TikToker was walking, singing and dancing on Red Square, in GUM and on the Moskva River embankment.
At first, everyone was interested in whether he really came to Moscow, whether he returned for good. Milokhin himself remained silent on this matter and did not comment on his appearance in the capital, but simply continued to add video content. Soon a real war began in the comments: some sent the orphanage resident to the front, others demanded to leave him alone.
Meanwhile, the scandal that began on social networks spread offline: on September 11, the head of the Safe Internet League, Ekaterina Mizulina, addressed the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense with a request to call up the tiktoker for military service during the upcoming autumn conscription. The basis for this, in her opinion, is Milokhin’s Russian citizenship and conscription age.
Milokhin dances on Red Square. The same video that caused the scandal. Video © tiktok / danya_milokhin
“This step will contribute to patriotic education; a young man will be able to prove, with arms in hand, his loyalty and devotion to our Motherland,” Mizulina wrote in her Telegram channel.
This initiative was also supported on domestic TV channels, where they recalled the TikToker’s performance of the Ukrainian anthem on air by Ukrainian blogger Artur Babich and called him “a puppy who belongs on the front line.” The blogger’s adoptive father later even had to make excuses. According to him, his son did not inform about his plans to come to Moscow, and he cannot be taken to the service due to poor eyesight.
On the morning of September 12, when the media were publishing a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the prospects for the return of compatriots who had left the country, Ekaterina Mizulina published a post in which she reported that the night before at 23:18 the blogger crossed the border at Vnukovo airport and flew from Russia to Dubai. According to her, Milokhin was afraid of the “consolidation and unity of civil society” and fled the country.
How did Milokhin live before the Northern Military District?
A year and a half ago, in his interviews, Milokhin stated that he would never return to Russia, because for him it was a step back, they say, he feels the strength to conquer the whole world, and he has long been cramped in his homeland. True, at that time he was still fascinated by his new life abroad and did not feel a lack of funds.
It is known that before his flight from Russia, Milokhin earned tens of millions of rubles. The handsome boy was wildly popular among teenagers, thanks to which he had many advertising contracts.
The career simply went uphill: the next stage in the ascent to the Olympus of fame was filming in the Channel One TV show “Ice Age” with figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva. According to some reports, then inviting Danya Milokhin to speak at a corporate event cost from one and a half to two million rubles.
Danya Milokhin continues to shoot videos in Dubai. Photo © Instagram
The popularity of the blogger allowed him to take part in such a prestigious economic forum as SPIEF. There he distinguished himself by filming controversial videos for Tiktok, in which even Ksenia Sobchak took part. And before leaving the country, Milokhin, according to rumors, even signed an advertising contract with one of the Russian banks worth 90 million rubles.
However, the TikToker took his wealth and professional capitalization lightly. Therefore, he quickly squandered his fortune after leaving Russia and found himself completely dependent on his friends, in particular the rapper Morgenstern*. After Milokhin’s wanderings from apartment to apartment, the disgraced musician allowed him to live for free in his mansion in Dubai and now, in fact, supports him with his own money.
Why did the blogger come to Moscow?
The impoverished TikToker all this time was interrupted by infrequent performances in the UAE, where he now lives, and in Kazakhstan. In his interviews, Milokhin shared that in terms of work, he now does not disdain anything, even participating in children’s matinees. He regrets that he lost contact with his homeland and would like to return. Recently, Milokhin often gave interviews to visiting bloggers about his difficult life in exile.
Photo © YouTube / DZHARAKHOV Recently, Milokhin often gave interviews to visiting bloggers about his difficult life in exile. Photo © YouTube / DZHARAKHOV
In August, rumors appeared that the blogger’s managers were testing the waters regarding the possibility of him working in Moscow. Allegedly, the young talent Milokhin even lowered the fee bar and is now asking for only 1 million rubles for his participation in projects. It seems that it was already known then that he would come to the capital and would be free for proposals, since he had only one shooting planned for the near future for some online project.
However, it is possible that Milokhin’s arrival in the capital could only be part of an advertising campaign for that very project. The guy began posting video reports about his stay in the capital on one of the social networks on September 8, and among them he published a video advertising chips, recorded earlier, most likely in Kazakhstan.
In the video he starred with his old friend and colleague, TikToker from Kyiv Ten Eugene, who now lives in Russia. It seems that both bloggers went on a promotional trip, and later recorded their own content on the streets of Moscow. The TikToker was sheltered by rapper Morgenstern*, who essentially took Milokhin into custody.
The advertisement itself was allegedly made for Kazakhstan and even appeared in one version on the manufacturer’s Kazakh Instagram. But at the same time, both TikTokers posted advertising videos.
The famously unfolding scandal with the return to Russia obviously worked to the customer’s advantage - the number of views of the blogger’s content during the days of his stay in the capital was enormous.
What Vladimir Putin said about this
On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, where, answering questions from the moderators, he touched upon the topic of the return to Russia of compatriots who fled because of the Northern Military District.
In particular, the head of state commented on the data of his assistant Maxim Oreshkin, who reported in June that approximately half of those who left due to the start of the Northern Military District and the mobilization of Russians that took place in September 2022 returned to Russia.
- We had “disenfranchised” people at one time - with the easy encouragement of some writers it came into circulation. I haven’t heard anything about “returnees” yet, but the trend is good, we see it. I am very pleased that you and your colleagues notice, as you said, that movement has begun and Russia is focusing. This is very important - a sense of belonging, understanding of what is happening, belonging to one’s Motherland,” Vladimir Putin emphasized.
Are you ready to forgive Danya Milokhin?