On the video featuring a gay “interviewee,” four children, aged 6 to 13, chat with the 21-year-old Maksim who sits in a chair a few feet away from them. The channel has featured children interviewing an older person, a woman with anorexia, a black person, a person of short stature, and others. The video series by Russian YouTube channel “Real Talk,” is a local adaption of the US show “ Kids Meet,” where children meet people with different life experiences and ask unscripted questions. This week, investigative authorities in Moscow opened a criminal investigation into alleged sexual assault of children in connection with a video in which Russian kids ask a gay man questions about his life.

Maksim Pankratov, 21 y/o, interviewed by children on “Real Talk”